University Of North Carolina Greensboro issued the following announcement on Oct. 30.
The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer team proved it's not how you start, but how one finishes during a memorable campaign that still has a few more chapters to write.
UNCG started its season on August 26 against Campbell. Less than five minutes into its season, the Spartans were trailing, 2-0, on their way to a disappointing season-opening setback. Ten days later, the Spartans, playing with 10 players, dropped a 2-1 decision to Saint Joseph's in overtime that as it turned out was the nadir of UNCG's season.
"The first two weekends weren't great for us as we went 2-2," UNCG head coach Chris Rich said following UNCG's season-ending victory over East Tennessee State Saturday night. "I want to win every game and I'd rather be 4-0 after those two weekends."
The early adversity provided the spark the Spartans needed as it turned out. There were some early bumps and potholes during UNCG's journey to the top.
It makes winning the Southern Conference championship and the accompanying No. 1 seed in the conference tournament sweeter following a memorable 13-win campaign that saw UNCG polish its sterling reputation as one of the nation's elite soccer programs.
Ranked 22nd in the latest College Soccer News Top 25 poll, UNCG has its most victories in a single season since the 2006 squad won 16 matches.
"I didn't even know that," said Rich when informed of that awesome statistic. "This group is resilient. We can win different ways. Super proud of our 13th win. That's a lot of wins. Anytime you win that many games, you know you have a lot of good players who are doing a lot of things right."
Showcasing their amazing depth, the Spartans won a tough road game in difficult wet and cold conditions by getting goals from Maycol Reyes and Jack Birch during the first 10 minutes of the second half against ETSU.
UNCG finished the season by going unbeaten in 12 of its final 13 matches. The Spartans made statisticians go dizzy this season as they ended the regular season leading the nation in goals, points, assists, scoring offense, points per game, and goal differential.
The Spartans displayed the type of the team they were in closing out September with a 0-0 draw at Virginia, a dominating 3-1 victory over then No. 2-ranked and unbeaten Clemson and a gritty 1-0 overtime win at Coastal Carolina. They sandwiched the win over Clemson with routs of Radford and VMI by a combined score of 12-0.
"Every game brings different challenges, and you have to overcome different sets of adversities within each and every game," Rich said. "It's a good reflection of our guys' character that we can win different ways whether we significantly beat an opponent by multiple goals or beat an opponent in a tight game. Earlier this week against Longwood, we came back from conceding the first goal."
After falling to Belmont in a disappointing, 2-1, road loss in Nashville on Oct. 16, the Spartans refocused and controlled what they could. UNCG ended the season by winning its final four matches by a combined score of 15-2.
UNCG caught a break when Belmont lost to Mercer, which enabled the Spartans to finish off their title run. UNCG shutout five of its six SoCon opponents.
Now, the Spartans see exactly which two teams will offer the first challenge on the road to a SoCon tournament title repeat. UNCG will be ready for ETSU or Belmont on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.
"We were disappointed with losing to Belmont and we felt like we potentially lost an opportunity to win the league," Rich said. "We had to move forward. You know, every setback, tie, loss and even when you win games, it's so many learning moments within the games.
"Those learning moments in those games helped us get to this point. We put a lot of hard work into getting here. Our first goal was to win the regular season and we accomplished that tonight. It's a big moment for us. We compete to win trophies. To win our first trophy this year is exciting."
Original source can be found here.
Source: University Of North Carolina Greensboro
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