HOOVER, Ala. For long stretches of Sunday's national championship men's soccer game between Charlotte and North Carolina, the underdog and unseeded 49ers outplayed the No. 1 seed from Chapel Hill.

But North Carolina scored the game's only goal, survived a late flurry from the 49ers and won the national title, 1-0. The victory disappointed thousands of 49ers fans who turned a converted minor-league baseball stadium outside of Birmingham into a home game for Charlotte.

"We were first in almost every category but the one that wins the game," said Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn, whose team outshot the Tar Heels 19-10 and earned six corner kicks, compared with North Carolina's two. "That's the cruel part of soccer."

When the game between in-state rivals had concluded, the Charlotte soccer players avoided the confetti cannons spraying paper jubilation all over the Tar Heel victors and walked en masse to their fans.

Rather than sulking, the Charlotte players strode toward supporters and applauded them. The fans, in turn, gave the players a standing ovation for a dream season that included five straight victories in the NCAA tournament. Thanks to six busloads of Charlotte students and untold numbers of others making the six-hour drive from Charlotte, the 49ers probably had 7,000 fans among the 8,777 in attendance.

"It was phenomenal," Charlotte defender Isaac Cowles said. "I couldn't even hear a Carolina fan. All I heard was Charlotte."

But while Charlotte won the crowd battle, it was the Tar Heels who claimed the victory thanks to a curling, left-footed shot from 25 yards out from forward Ben Speas early in the second half. The goal was unassisted and spectacular, as Speas created a brief opening and then blasted the ball over 49ers goalkeeper Klay Davis' head.

"Ben had a moment of inspiration," first-year Tar Heels head coach Carlos Somoano said, "and it was incredible."

North Carolina now has 38 NCAA team championships in all sports combined, including two in men's soccer. Charlotte is still searching for its first.

The Tar Heels had been to the men's soccer version of the Final Four the past four seasons in a row, but had lost each of the previous three years. They beat UCLA in overtime Friday night on penalty kicks and then on Sunday faced a Charlotte team that had edged Creighton on penalty kicks earlier the same night.

"We relied on our heart and our guts to win this game," Somoano said. He added later: "Charlotte came out so aggressive and played so hard that we literally didn't have the legs to play the game that we wanted. It was the first time all year we weren't able to dominate the ball in a game."

The Tar Heels caught one big break early in the second half. Charlotte midfielder Donnie Smith had the ball inside the penalty box when it looked to many - including to the ESPNU TV announcers and to me - like he was fouled by the Tar Heels' Kirk Urso. Had a foul been called there, Charlotte would have gotten a penalty kick and a likely goal.

Urso said he didn't foul Smith, although when first asked about the incident postgame he said: "Oh, the one that could have been a PK maybe?"

Gunn, an Englishman, said he thought a penalty should have been called. He added that when he watched the replay that there would be a "good chance... a cup of tea might go flying across the room."

But Charlotte still had several more very good chances. The 49ers took five shots in a frantic 40-second span with less than five minutes left - one hit the crossbar and another was saved.

"We had them on the ropes the entire last 10 minutes," Charlotte forward T.J. Beaulieu said.

But it was really the 49ers who were on the ropes, because they had to score to push the game into overtime. They never could, as North Carolina's defenders repelled one charge after another.

The game was played on a converted minor-league baseball field - the home of the Birmingham Barons. It was where Michael Jordan played for one season in 1994 during his baseball foray, and he is still remembered with numerous pictures around the stadium.

What the 49ers needed Sunday was one of Jordan's last-second shots. Instead, they had to settle for No. 2 in the country and getting to participate in a remarkable final in front of a fan base that practically drowned out the Tar Heels' postgame celebration with cries of "Forty-Niners! Forty-Niners!"

"That was probably one of the best collegiate games of soccer people are going to see - and in a national championship game," Gunn said. "What more could you ask for?"

Well, you could ask for a win, of course. But as Gunn said, soccer can be a cruel game - even to those who love it most.