#4 Tar Heels Grab Last-Second Win over #11 Saint Louis
Sept. 1, 2002
Chapel Hill, N.C. -The University of North Carolina got a pair of goals from Ryan Kneipper, including one with just 0:03 left in the second half to give the No. 4 Tar Heels a 2-1 thrilling win over No. 11 Saint Louis on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the Nike Carolina Classic at Fetzer Field. With time counting down in regulation, Ray Fumo gave a short pass to Matt Crawford, who sent a long serve into the box from the middle third of the field. Kneipper headed the ball into the lower right corner of the net for the Tar Heel win. Kneipper now has three goals in Carolina's two wins this season after also scoring once in Friday night's win over Akron. With the victory, defending NCAA champ Carolina improves to 2-0 this season. Saint Louis, which tied Wake Forest on Friday night, falls to 0-1-1. On Sunday, Saint Louis took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the game when an uncovered Mike Kirchhoff scored on a header. Kirchhoff took a long pass from Joe Hammes and easily guided it past Tar Heel keeper Jay Batt. Carolina tied the score with just 41 seconds left to play in the first half when Kneipper scored at the 44:19 mark. After Jonathan Davis flicked a long forward pass with his head, Mike Gell's shot was saved by Billiken keeper Martin Hutton. Kneipper took the rebound and scored from point-blank range against an open net, as Hutton was out of position.
In Sunday afternoon's first game, No. 24 Wake Forest got a late goal from Justin Moose to defeat Akron, 2-1. The two teams both scored within a span of 1:30 in the first half, with Bobby Gehring scoring for Wake and Michael Marich scoring for Akron. The Demon Deacons improved to 1-0-1 on the young season, while Akron fell to 0-2.
Carolina will return to action on Thursday evening when it hosts Long Island at 7 p.m. at Fetzer Field.
Goals: Kneipper (UNC) 2, Mike Kirchhoff (SLU) 1
NIKE CAROLINA CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
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