The Chapel Hill men’s soccer team hosted crosstown rival Carrboro High School September 21.
Chapel Hill entered the game atop the Big Eight 3A conference standings and held an overall record of 5-1-1.
Before the opening whistle sounded, Chapel Hill organized a hurricane relief drive at Culton-Peerman stadium before the game. Fans could donate food and household items to victims of hurricane Florence.
Chapel Hill head coach Jason Curtis spoke about the importance of supporting the community.
“We are far enough inland that the hurricane didn’t hit us, and we are allowed to play tonight,” Curtis said. “We can’t forget the people that are still dealing with the flooding right now. This is my 21st year living here, and Florence has been really bad as far as flooding. We want to try to get them back on their feet and do what we can.”
Chapel Hill soccer made a difference off the field, but, on the field, it was senior Tom Morioka who was the difference-maker.
Less than eight minutes into the first half, Morioka, an attacking midfielder, swiped the ball from a Carrboro player and drove it into the back of the net to put the Tigers on the board.
Fourteen minutes later, senior Ryan Smith fought for possession, and the ball ricocheted right to Morioka, who struck again to put the Tigers up 2-0.
The Chapel Hill defense made key stops on Jaguar counterattacks to maintain the lead as the score held at halftime.
In the second half, the Chapel Hill attack continued to put pressure on Carrboro.
The Tigers, however, were not able to add onto the lead, forcing them to rely on their defense in order to secure the win.
The Chapel Hill defense, led by junior goalkeeper Matthew Wolf, held strong and preserved the shutout. Protecting their home turf, the Tigers ended the game against Carrboro with a final score of 2-0.
“Our game plan was to keep the ball and possess it,” Curtis said. “We knew that one of Carrboro’s best players was out because of a red card, so we didn’t have to adjust what we wanted to do. We have been working on moving the ball in tight spaces and then just letting Tom work some magic.”
Morioka’s two goals drove the Tigers to victory in the rivalry game.
“Everyone was really pumped up,” Morioka said about the team’s energy. “Normally we are pretty relaxed, but today we were taking it very seriously in warm-ups.”
Chapel Hill controlled possession for most of the game and rarely gave up scoring opportunities to Carrboro.
“We like to make sure that everyone is always moving and tire the opposition out,” Morioka said. “I think that we executed the game plan well today.”
