IU beats UNC, advances to College Cup

Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Leaping for joy as the clock wound down to zeroes, senior goalkeeper Luis Soffner met sophomore defender Patrick Doody and junior midfielder Jacob Bushue at the edge of the 18-yard-box for an embrace.

He ran to midfield and gave an authoritative fist pump, directed at the contingency of Hoosier fans in the crowd of 4,352 people. Soffner and his teammates upset the No. 9 seed North Carolina Tar Heels 1-0 Friday night at Fetzer Field.

The win, the Hoosiers’ second in as many road postseason games, meant the first trip to the College Cup since 2004.

“It feels great,” Soffner said. “(We) finally got over that hump. Last year we left here a little bit devastated because we thought we played well enough to win that game. Being here in ’09 and last year, especially being a senior, I really wanted to get the guys to know that being here is not an easy place to play.

“We know that, and we knew that we had the team this year that we could take ‘em down.”

For the second consecutive match, sophomore forward Eriq Zavaleta scored the game-winning goal.

In the 60th minute, junior midfielders Harrison Petts and A.J. Corrado pressured a UNC defender, who possessed the ball at his own 18-yard box. Their pressure caused an errant pass that rolled directly to Doody, standing seven yards away. His cross from the left edge of the 18-yard-box extended found Zavaleta’s head. North Carolina goalkeeper Scott Goodwin came out to challenge, making a one-handed save. However, Zavaleta buried the rebound into the open net.

“First off, a credit to them,” Zavaleta said. “Giving up six goals, seven goals now, all year is a feat in itself and we knew that coming in. We know that one goal wins this game.”

The final score of 1-0 was the same score these teams played to the last two meetings. In 2009 and 2011, the Heels ended the Hoosiers’ season in the tournament.

The Hoosiers’ 1-0 win ended the Heels’ 40-game home-unbeaten streak and denied them their fifth consecutive appearance in the College Cup. Soffner said it felt great to flip the script.

IU Coach Todd Yeagley praised his team’s opponent.

“What they’ve done the last four years has been phenomenal,” Yeagley said, pausing at times to catch his breath. “Those players should be very proud of what they’ve accomplished.

“This group, I couldn’t be more happy for them.”

Zavaleta’s goal and IU’s defense surviving eight shots in the final 12:03 of play, three of which were blocked by Bushue, helped the Hoosiers avoid penalty kicks. Goodwin had won the past six penalty kick shootouts, dating back to 2010.

“The goal tonight was to keep shots away from Luis because we knew they were a dangerous team shooting from far away,” senior defender Caleb Konstanski said. “That’s the kind of effort we need to win national championships.

“In professional sports, you see the team that gets hot late is the team that usually wins it all. It’s the team that’s clicking at the right time. We’re clicking at the right time.”