Wake Forest guaranteed at least one ACC school from North Carolina will play for the NCAA men’s soccer championship by outlasting previously undefeated Denver 2-1 in double overtime in the first NCAA tournament semifinal in Houston, Tex. North Carolina fell short of joining its in-state rival in Sunday’s title game by losing to defending national champion Stanford in the 10th round of a penalty kick shootout.The Deacons(19-2-3) earned their ticket to the final on a goal by Ian Harkes just 93 seconds into the second overtime period. Harkes’ fifth goal of the season came off an assist from Jon Bakero on a counterattack only moments after a Denver corner kick. The sudden death winner ended a game in which the Deacons outshot the Pioneers 18-4, but had to struggle to close out its opponent after the teams traded goals early in the game. Wake took the only four shots during overtime on the way to extending its unbeaten streak to 13. Bakero got Wake off to a fast start by scoring just 6½ minutes in after intercepting a ball and chipping it over the Denver goalie from 30 yards out. The Pioneers (20-1-3) got the equalizer 10 minutes later when Andre Shinyashiki put home a rebound after Deacon goalie Alec Ferrell made the initial save. Ferrell was making his first start since the ACC tournament championship game on Nov. 13 because of an injury. Wake, the ACC tournament champion, is looking to win its second soccer national championship. The first came in 2007. UNC (14-4-3) missed out on a chance to play for its third men’s title after playing Stanford to a scoreless draw through 110 minutes. Tar Heels goalie James Pyle was outstanding during the regulation and overtime portion of the game, making six saves to keep his team in the game.The Cardinal held a 13-11 advantage in shots and 10-1 edge in corners, but it was UNC that nearly won it as time expired in the second overtime. First, Stanford goalie Andrew Epstein saved a shot from UNC’s Tucker Hume, then Mauricio Pineda had his shot blocked before.The teams then proceeded to trade goals for the first nine rounds of the shootout. But after the Cardinal’s Amri Bashti scored to start the 10th round, the Tar Heels’ Alex Comsia missed his attempt to end the game.Sunday’s championship game will begin at 2 p.m.Shot by NC Mauricio Pineda BLOCKED
