2021 North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team explained

The 2021 North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 75th season of the university fielding a program. The Tar Heels were led by eleventh year head coach Carlos Somoano and played their home games at Dorrance Field.

The Tar Heels finished the season 11–7–2 overall and 4–4–0 in ACC play to finish in fourth place in the Coastal Division. As the seventh overall seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated Syracuse in the First Round, before losing to Clemson in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. As an unseeded team, they defeated Loyola (MD) via penalty shoot-out in the First Round before losing to sixth seeded New Hampshire in the Second Round.

Background

See main article: article and 2020 North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer team.

The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.

The Tar Heels finished the fall season 3–2–2 and 3–1–2 in ACC play to finish in second place in the South Division. In the ACC Tournament lost to Notre Dame in the Quarterfinals. They finished the spring season 4–2–1 and 4–1–1 in ACC play, to finish in second place in the Coastal Division. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. As an unseeded team in the tournament, they progressed pass Charlotte in the Second Round via penalties, defeated Stanford in the Third Round, and Wake Forest in the Quarterfinals before losing to Marshall in the Semifinals to end their season.

At the end of the season, three Tar Heels men's soccer players were selected in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft: Matt Constant, Mark Salas and Giovanni Montesdeoca.^[1]

Player movement

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Matt Constant	6	DF	6'6"	190	Senior		Graduated
	10	FW	5'9"	167	Senior	Dallas, TX	Graduated; Drafted 79th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas
Sam Jones	18	MF	6'2"	190	Senior		Graduated
Axel Alejandre	26	DF	5'11"		Freshman		Transferred to Louisville
	27	DF	5'10"	150	Senior	Dallas, TX	Graduated; Drafted 76th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas
Malik Henry	31	FW	5'6"	130	Freshman		Transferred to Akron
Roman Knox	38	MF	5'10"	150	Junior		Transferred to SMU
Taff Wadda	39	FW	5'9"	150	Senior		Graduated

Recruiting class

Name	Nat.	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
				[2]
			Inter Miami CF U18	[3]
			NYCFC Academy	[4]
			Sockers FC	[5]
				[6]
			SIMA	[7]
			Portland Timbers Academy	[8]
			Alabama FC	[9]
			Wilmington Hammerheads FC	[10]
			PDA Academy	N/A[11]
			Sockers FC	[12]
				[13]

Squad

Roster

^[14]

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Bubba Cunningham
Head Coach	Carlos Somoano
Assistant Coach	Grant Porter
Assistant Coach	Will Clayton
Volunteer Assistant Coach	Michael Harrington

Source:^[14]

Schedule

Source:^{[15] [16]}

|-!colspan=6 style=""| Exhibition|-!colspan=6 style=""| Regular season|-!colspan=6 style=""| ACC Tournament|-!colspan=6 style=""| NCAA Tournament

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Alec Smir	Preseason All-ACC Watchlist	August 18	[17]
Milo Garvanian	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	October 26	[18]
Alec Smir	ACC Defensive Player of the Week
Alec Smir	All-ACC First Team	November 10	[19]
Joe Pickering	All-ACC Third Team
Filippo Zattarin
Ken Bellini	ACC All-Freshman Team
Tega Ikoba

2022 MLS Super Draft

See main article: article and 2022 MLS SuperDraft.

Source:^[20]

Rankings

See main article: 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2021 MLS SuperDraft Tracker . MLSSoccer.com . January 22, 2021 . January 22, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210122133124/https://www.mlssoccer.com/superdraft/2021/tracker . dead .
2. Web site: Nicolas Bellini. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
3. Web site: Andres Cardenas. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
4. Web site: Quinn Closson. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
5. Web site: Andrew Czech. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
6. Web site: Matthew Edwards. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
7. Web site: Luc Granitur. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
8. Web site: Tega Ikoba. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
9. Web site: Daniel Kutsch. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
10. Web site: Zack Naughton. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
11. Web site: Lucas Ross. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
12. Web site: Matthew Senanou. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
13. Web site: Gui Vivaldini. topdrawersoccer.com. August 3, 2021.
14. Web site: 2021 Men's Soccer Roster . goheels.com . University of North Carolina Athletics. January 27, 2022.
15. Web site: 2021 Men's Soccer Schedule. goheels.com. University of North Carolina. August 3, 2021.
16. Web site: Tar Heels Release 2021 Men's Soccer Schedule. July 16, 2021. goheels.com. University of North Carolina Athletics. August 3, 2021.
17. Web site: Pitt Named Preseason ACC Men’s Soccer Favorite. theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 18, 2021. August 18, 2021.
18. Web site: UNC’s Garvanian, Smir Earn ACC Men’s Soccer Player of the Week Distinction. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. October 26, 2021. October 27, 2021.
19. Web site: 2021 All-ACC Men’s Soccer Team Unveiled. theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 10, 2021. November 16, 2021.
20. Web site: Smir Selected By FC Dallas In MLS SuperDraft. goheels.com. University of North Carolina Athletics. January 12, 2022. January 27, 2022.