A single Syracuse mistake was all No. 21 North Carolina needed.

On Friday night at Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C., North Carolina (5-2-5, 2-1-5 Atlantic Coast) capitalized on an Alex Bono turnover late in the first half, turning the gaffe into a goal. The turnover proved costly for the Orange as the Tar Heels escaped with a 1-0 victory over the Orange (8-5-1, 2-5-1).

“There’s such a fine line between winning and losing these games,” said SU head coach Ian McIntyre. “We had some chances on the other end. If we capitalize and execute on those, we win the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be on this occasion.”

Syracuse had its best scoring chance of the night just three minutes into the match. Midfielder Alex Halis put on a nifty dribbling display in the middle of the field just above the box, and slid a ball through three defenders to forward Emil Ekblom. Ekblom was alone with keeper Brendan Moore, but sent a shot right into his awaiting arms.

“It was a good move,” McIntyre said. “He created some space and the goalie made a good save. I think Emil would be the first to say he didn’t catch it as sweetly as he would have liked. And most times he sticks that one away.

“There’s a thin line between scoring goals and conceding goals.”

The Orange controlled play early on and recorded three shots in the opening five minutes.

In the 29th minute, SU seemed to take the lead when a Jordan Murrell corner kick appeared to cross the goal line. Ekblom put his arms up to celebrate, but no goal was awarded.

With eight minutes left in the first half, SU defender Chris Makowski sent a routine return pass back to Bono. The normally sure-handed keeper whiffed on a clearing attempt, though, and North Carolina forward Tyler Engel picked up the ball near the end line. Engel found Verneri Valimaa, who dribbled in a few steps and slid a pass to Cooper Vandermaas-Peeler, who placed the ball in the bottom right of the net.

It was Vandermaas-Peeler’s first goal of the season.

“If that’s your center forward or your center midfield that makes that mistake, there are other guys around him to make up for that,” McIntyre said. “Unfortunately, the goalkeeper position is one of those where a mistake like that can lead to a goal scoring opportunity.”

SU had its second-best chance of the night in the 60th minute on another Murrell free kick. The junior defender sent a bending shot toward the goal, but UNC goalie Moore dove and grabbed it out of the air.

In the final minute of play, Murrell sent a long pass to Ekblom, but it sailed just out of his reach.

“In the second half, I thought UNC kept the ball, moved the ball well,” McIntyre said. “But we still huffed and puffed and worked very hard and had a couple of chances.”

Overall, the Tar Heels had 13 shots to SU’s five, while the Orange had nine corner kicks to UNC’s three. Bono and Moore finished with three saves apiece.

“I’m proud of the guys,” McIntyre said. “I thought we played some good stuff. It’s a tough one not to take anything away from this game.”

Published on October 18, 2013 at 11:45 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu