The Wildcats celebrate 'The Kick' by Bridger Hansen (5) in last weekend's NCAA win over North Carolina. They are at Oregon State tonight in the Round of 16. (Courtesy photo by China Wong/UNH Athletics)

DURHAM, N.H. – The Kick.

Have you seen The Kick, the bicycle kick goal that University of New Hampshire back Bridger Hansen delivered last Sunday to propel the Wildcats to a 4-1 win over North Carolina in Wildcat Stadium in the second round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament?

And now the next hurdle: the Round of 16 and a matchup tonight at 9 Eastern at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

The Beavers are 13-2-3 and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Wildcats are No. 16 at 17-1-2.

The winner of the game plays the No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 Kentucky winner in the quarterfinals next weekend.

Either New Hampshire or Oregon State will make program history Sunday night. Neither team has ever made it to the NCAA quarterfinals.

Hansen’s kick – it made ESPN’s Sports Center and can be found on www.unhwildcats.com and other sites – got the already-fired-up Wildcats going on Sunday.

“That was ridiculous, outrageous,” said junior midfielder Rory O’Connor. “That riled us up even more and gave us an extra boost. We came out flying and to get that as our first goal was all the motivation to keep us going and get another and get another.”

The Wildcats attacked from the start of the game and struck when Concord’s Chris Pinkham – “an Energizer bunny,” said Coach Marc Hubbard – crossed the ball from the left side towards the net. The ball deflected off the leg of grad student Victor Menudier high into the air.

Hansen, his back to the goal, watched the ball go up and skipped over a defender to where it was headed and promptly bicycle kicked it into the net as it came down.

You have to see it.

“Oh yeah, I practice that three or four times a day,” Hansen said with a laugh in a post-game media session. “No, it totally caught me off guard. . . . With how high it was, there was a guy in front of me and I just hopped over him and it just dropped right to me. It worked out nicely. I don’t know if I could do it again.”

UNC scored to make it 1-1 less than two minutes later.

No problem.

The Wildcats exploded for three goals in the last eight minutes of the half to take control of the game.

O’Driscoll headed in a pass from senior Tola Showunmi for the goal that became the game-winner. Pinkham set up grad student Jacob Gould of Exeter for 3-1. And grad student Johann von Knebel scored a pretty breakaway goal, on a play started by grad student Adam Savill, with just five seconds left for the dagger.

The Wildcats took out the soccer tradition-rich Tar heels with their two NCAA titles and multiple appearances in the College Cup and will see what they can do about keeping their season going.

They’re playing a team that has a similar profile to themselves.

The Beavers have made three NCAA appearances in the last four years and the first two times made it to the second round.

“They’ve definitely made a statement this year, putting themselves in position to be No. 1,” O’Connor said. “We have a lot to prove. We haven’t been beyond this level. We feel we can get beyond this level. We are up there competing with the best programs and we know we are one of the best programs in the nation, but we need to show it on a national scale, in the biggest event in college soccer, and go to the College Cup (the semifinals and finals) and push for a national championship.”

Oregon State, like UNH, had a bye through the first round this year and advanced to this game with a 2-0 win over St. John’s on Sunday night.

“They’re definitely a group that moves the ball quicker than anybody we’ve seen this year,” Hubbard said. “It’s a good challenge for us that way in terms of tactically – very free-flowing possession and wanting to spread us out, get numbers up in higher spots, isolate us. They play some great attacking soccer.”

Oregon State’s losses came to Grand Canyon, 1-0 on Sept. 6, and at UCLA, 3-2, on Nov. 7. The ties were against Santa Barbara, Stanford and Washington.

Against North Carolina, UNH bounced back nicely from its only loss of the season, a 1-0 setback to Vermont in the America East championship game.

“It’s hard to play day in and day out at the same level and then you’re playing such a familiar opponent,” Hubbard said. “Playing UNC reinvigorates us and it’s the same thing now. It’s another strong opponent from a, per se, Power 5 conference, and it’s another opportunity for us to show everyone we belong there.”

The Wildcats were healthier than they had been in a bit against North Carolina.

Pinkham, who had missed a couple of games, was one of the players back in the lineup and he had a major impact on the game and had a role in three of the four goals.

“He has a great blue collar mentality, a New Hampshire-type guy,” Hubbard said. “He’s a little bit of an Energizer bunny. He can run, run for days, and he can put teams under pressure because of his ability to run and attack.”

Pinkham and the Wildcats pressured and attacked and ran North Carolina out of the tournament.

They headed west for Oregon on Friday and will look to give the No. 1 seed some problems come tonight.

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