CHAPEL HILL -- Carlos Somoano is three games into his first collegiate head coaching job and has taken North Carolina to No. 1 in the national polls.
Sunday, the first Latino head coach in the UNC athletic department's history, guided the Tar Heels to a 2-1 win against formerly top-ranked Louisville to lift the Tar Heels to the top position in the college soccer polls for the first time since September 2009. That would be enough to leave most first-year coaches elated.
"That's not how my mind works, and I don't go through it thinking about it at all," Somoano said. "I'm focused on what we need to do to get better and I'm obsessed with that."
The No. 1 Tar Heels (3-0), who start their ACC schedule on the road Saturday at Virginia Tech, share his obsession. Somoano has instituted a more active style of play than the one employed by his predecessor, Elmar Bolowich.
Sophomore forward Rob Lovejoy, who scored the equalizer against the Cardinals in the 38th minute, said Somoano brings a plan that's based on movement - more lateral passes instead of direct play and constant runs by forwards.
"He's a guy that loves perfection, and even when it's perfect he demands more," junior midfielder Enzo Martinez said. "I absolutely love that. It makes you a better player. He brings a great style of soccer that we understand a bit more."
For 22 seasons, UNC played under the direction of Bolowich. But Bolowich, who led the team to the 2001 National Championship and the last three College Cups, bolted in February to take the coaching job at Creighton, where a higher premium is placed on soccer as the No. 1 fall sport.
Returning players went to UNC athletic director Dick Baddour and requested Somoano as the next coach. He had been an assistant for nine years, and it took 2 1/2 months before the interim tag was removed and he was officially given the position.
"We all knew from the beginning we wanted Carlos as our head coach, and we knew it'd be a challenge for him to get it just because of all the people trying looking to get the job," redshirt junior forward Billy Schuler said. "We fought hard for him, and I think that adds to the relationship when you know your kids are fighting for you. It brought us closer."
Somoano said the most meaningful experiences in athletics involve relationships that you establish and the experiences that you go through together.
"It meant a lot to me, and it was definitely motivating and makes me feel good about what I'm trying to do for these guys."
The Tar Heels said they went into Sunday's game truly believing it was just like any other match. UNC has played the No. 1 team in the country four times since 2009. Lovejoy, Schuler and Martinez all said that's how they have been programmed, and Somoano reinforces it.
"I think the win was great for him, not just because he was the new coach, but to show everyone that he was the right man for the job," Martinez said. "We all believed that from the beginning, and we all supported him when we heard the news that Elmar was leaving. We knew he was capable of taking this team to those heights and I think that speaks to why he got hired."
