Goals from senior forwards Tyler Engel, Andy Craven and Rob Lovejoy gave No. 6 North Carolina a 3-1 victory over No. 7 California in the 2014 season opener for both clubs Friday night from Fetzer Field.<\/p>\n
Carolina (1-0) controlled play at the onset of the game and that ultimately paid dividends when Engel finished from 15 yards in the 19th minute off a feed from Craven.<\/p>\n
Minutes later Cal was on the cusp of an equalizer but senior All-America defender Boyd Okwuonu cleared away a ball on the goal line that was going to tie the match in the 21st minute.<\/p>\n
Tar Heel defender Jonathan Campbell nearly made it 2-0 with a header off a corner kick, but the Bears defense stood tall to keep the ball from crossing the line.<\/p>\n
Just three minutes later, Craven beats the Cal keeper for that two-goal advantage in the 33rd minute. Lovejoy earned the assist as he placed a nice through ball to the foot of Craven.<\/p>\n
Cal (0-1) cut its defect in half with a goal from reserve Christian Thierjung in the 36th minute. That was the final tally of the opening half with Carolina taking a 2-1 lead into intermission.<\/p>\n
UNC All-ACC keeper Brendan Moore made three brilliant saves in the first 18 minutes of the second half to keep his club on top. He pushed aside a header in the 46th minute, stopped a point-blank shot from Connor Hallisey in the 53th minute and later did the same to Stefano Bonomo in the 63rd minute.<\/p>\n
The Tar Heels regained its composure over the final 20 minutes. Lovejoy iced the match with a blue-collar goal in the 83th minute to cap the scoring, 3-1, in favor of Carolina.<\/p>\n
Moore was forced to come up with eight saves on the evening, while Cal’s Kevin Peach had four saves over 90 minutes.<\/p>\n
Carolina held a 17-13 shot advantage over the Golden Bears, while Cal had seven corners to the Tar Heels five.<\/p>\n
UNC hosts No. 1 UCLA on Sunday at 7 p.m. The Bruins earned a 3-1 victory over Wake Forest this evening. <\/p>\n