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Deacons, Tar Heels play to 2-2 deadlock
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Published: October 10, 2009
Wake Forest and North Carolina battled to a 2-2 tie last night at Spry Stadium.
Perhaps it was appropriate that the men's soccer game was a tie because it's likely the two will see each other in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm sure we will see them down the road," said defender Ike Opara of the Deacons, who returned after a six-game absence while he played with the U.S. Under-20 national team in Egypt. "I'd like to get a piece of them, especially since they got us last year. It's a good rivalry when we play, and really nobody can brag now."
The Tar Heels, in front of 3,661 at Spry Stadium, jumped out to 1-0 lead by scoring on their first shot of the game.
Alex Dixon scored on goalie Akira Fitzgerald by chipping a pass from Michael Farfan just over the onrushing Fitzgerald from about 18 yards out two minutes into the game.
The Deacons came back four minutes later when Sam Redmond scored his first goal of the season, converting a header off a corner kick from Austin da Luz. Redmond's goal tied the score 1-1, and it was also the Deacons' first shot of the game.
There were plenty of start and stops in the 110 minutes of actual game time. The game started a half-hour late because the head official was late, and then there were two long injury delays (North Carolina's Cameron Brown and goalie Brooks Haggerty).
Despite all that, Coach Jay Vidovich of the Deacons said he was pleased with the way his team battled back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits.
"I was very pleased with our response after the first goal," Vidovich said. "We gave up an early, stupid goal and we rebounded very quickly. Right there showed some mental toughness."
The Tar Heels took a 2-1 lead with 33:30 left in regulation on a penalty kick from Michael Farfan, who was taken down in the penalty area by Luke Norman and Nick Courtney. There was 10-minute delay before the penalty kick because Brown had to be taken off the field on a stretcher after suffering a right-leg injury.
The Deacons tied the game 2-2 with less than nine minutes to go in regulation when Andy Lubahn converted off a pass from Zack Schilawski. Redmond also made a nice pass on the play to Schilawski as the Deacons dug the ball out of the left corner.
jdell@wsjournal.com | 727-408
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