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
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.
Player movement
Departures Departures Matt Constant 6 DF 6'6" 190 Senior Dallas, TX Graduated Giovanni Montesdeoca 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 Cardiff, Wales Graduated Axel Alejandre 26 DF 5'11" Freshman Chicago, IL Transferred to Louisville Mark Salas 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 Hamilton, Canada Transferred to Akron Roman Knox 38 MF 5'10" 150 Junior Shawnee, KS Transferred to SMU Taff Wadda 39 FW 5'9" 150 Senior Brackell, England Graduated
Recruiting class Name Nat. Hometown Club TDS Rating Lehi, UT Real Salt Lake Doral, FL Inter Miami CF U18 Fairfield, CT NYCFC Academy Elmhurst, IL Sockers FC Atlanta, GA Atlanta United Vero Beach, FL SIMA Huntsville, AL Portland Timbers Academy Birmingham, AL Alabama FC Goldsboro, NC Wilmington Hammerheads FC Verona, NJ PDA Academy N/A Plainfield, IL Sockers FC Chattanooga, TN The McCallie School
Squad
Roster
Team management Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham Head coach Carlos Somoano Assistant Coach Grant Porter Assistant Coach Will Clayton Volunteer Assistant Coach Michael Harrington
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Schedule
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!colspan=6 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=6 style=""| Regular season
!colspan=6 style=""| ACC Tournament
!colspan=6 style=""| NCAA Tournament
Awards and honors
Alec Smir Preseason All-ACC Watchlist August 18 Milo Garvanian ACC Offensive Player of the Week October 26 Alec Smir ACC Defensive Player of the Week Alec Smir All-ACC First Team November 10 Joe Pickering All-ACC Third Team Filippo Zattarin Ken Bellini ACC All-Freshman Team Tega Ikoba
2022 MLS Super Draft
Alec Smir FC Dallas 3 62 GK
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Rankings
References