The No. 5 seed SMU men’s soccer team’s run through the NCAA tournament came to an abrupt halt on Friday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Mustangs suffered a dramatic loss in the NCAA quarterfinals on penalty kicks (4-2) to No. 4 North Carolina after a 1-1 tie at the end of two overtime periods.
“It was just a tough game, and unfortunately we came out on the wrong end of it,” SMU head Coach Tim McClements said.
“We are all disappointed and devastated, but it was just a hard fought game.”
SMU opened up the scoring early on as midfielder Arthur Ivo notched his 10th goal of the season in the fifth minute.
Midfielder Robbie Derschang fed the ball to Ivo down the center of the field and the junior buried the ball in the back of the net from 14 yards out.
“I got the ball out wide and I just touched it by the right back, and I looked up and saw Ivo,” Derschang said. “I knew if I put the ball in the center, he would make the right run, and he did and finished it beautifully.”
The Tar Heels responded immediately and got on the board in the 10th minute when midfielder Kirk Urso scored from 12 yards out on a cross from forward Enzo Martinez.
The goal was Urso’s fifth of the season and knotted the score, 1-1.
North Carolina put the pressure back on SMU in the 12th minute when a shot by midfielder Michael Farfan forced SMU goalkeeper Craig Hill to make an amazing diving save by punching the ball over the crossbar.
On the ensuing corner kick, midfielder Stephen McCarthy almost gave the Tar Heels the lead, but his shot bounced off the top crossbar.
The rest of the first half saw tough physical play on defense as the score remained 1-1 heading into halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina took control of the ball and outshot SMU 12-2.
“They are a technical team, but they are incredibly athletic,” McClements said of North Carolina. “They started playing more direct at times and started picking up the ball after playing direct. They threw a different look at us, and it opened things up for a while.”
In the 56th minute, Hill again made another leaping save on a Farfan shot from 20 yards out.
With nine minutes left in regulation and the game still tied at 1-1, the SMU senior captain made yet another big play and stopped an Urso bullet to send the game into overtime.
Hill finished the night with three saves.
In overtime, SMU midfielder Zach Barnes just missed the upper right corner of the goal in the 108th minute.
North Carolina’s best chance to score in extra time came in the last minute when SMU blocked a header and two shots to force a penalty kick shootout.
The Tar Heels won the shootout 4-2, as Leone Cruz and Josue Soto both failed to convert on their attempts for SMU.
“Our PK kickers are really good, and we usually finish them,” Hill said. “It just was not our night tonight.”
SMU’s 2010 season included the regular season Conference USA title after a 7-1 record in conference play and a 16-2-2 overall record.
The Mustangs were awarded the No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Elite Eight.
