GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team and the California Golden Bears faced off against each other for the first time in program history on Thursday night into Friday morning playing to a 1-1 draw at the UNCG Soccer Stadium.
UNCG is ranked No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, No. 7 in the College Soccer News Preseason Poll, and No. 10 in the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason Poll.
HOW IT HAPPENED
With a large spot on the radar that seemed to affect many season opening soccer matches Thursday night, UNCG and Cal were set to kick off at 7 p.m., but went into a long delay right after the national anthem. The game was resumed at 10 p.m. and both teams were in high anticipation to get the season rolling.
The first three minutes had lots of action with a shot and three fouls between the two teams.
The Spartans used a quick free kick to restart and
Basile Marc dribbled into UNCG's attacking half finding
Donovan Roux on the right side of the 18-yard box. Roux battled two defenders at the six-yard box before keeping it in play and finding
Nabil Homssa who back-heeled the ball to
Arnaud Tattevin. Tattevin gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead with the strike to the back of the net at 3:07.
Yoshiya Okawa had one of three shots on goal for the Spartans in the next eight minutes, where his strike was saved by the Bears' goalkeeper at 11:21.
After a miss clear on UNCG's defense, Cal had a second chance allowing the Bears to penetrate the box and Isaiah Thomas slipped the ball to Nonso Adimabua with a strong finish into the net tying the game at one at 21:13.
Mathias Balle's only stop of the game came at 60:53 with a kick save in the lower right corner of the net. The second half was very physical as 11 fouls were drawn, bringing the game's total to 20. Neither team found the back of the net again giving both squads a season opening draw.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UNCG outshot Cal 10-8.
- The Bears had five saves to the Spartans one.
- Tattevin scored his first-collegiate goal.
- Roux and Homssa tallied their first assists as a Spartans.
RECORDS
UNCG (0-0-1)
Cal (0-0-1)
UP NEXT
The Spartans will battle their first ranked opponent with No. 14 Maryland on Sunday, August 27 in College Park, Maryland with a start time of 7:00 p.m.
UNCG will come back home to the UNCG Soccer Stadium for a game on Friday, September 1 at 7:00 p.m. against ACC foe Louisville, who is currently receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
