For the field hockey team's four seniors, Wednesday night was one final shot at a dream. But for visiting North Carolina, it was just business as usual.
The Tar Heels, led by two goals from All-America forward Kate Barber, notched their 35th consecutive victory against Duke, 5-0 on the East Campus Turf Field. Barber opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 30:56 mark of the first half, and then finished things off for the Tar Heels when she scored her 13th goal of the season with just three minutes to play in the second.
"They definitely out-skilled us today," Duke coach Liz Tchou said after the loss, which dropped the Blue Devils' record to 10-8, 2-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. "We were a little too anxious on defense, and we allowed way too many point-blank shots."
North Carolina proved once again why it is the number one team in the country, as it improved to 16-1 (8-0 in the ACC) on the season. The Tar Heels took just two more shots than Duke, but they made the most of every opportunity. Duke's Brooke Fuller was stubborn in goal, making 11 saves on the night, but it was not enough to stop Carolina's talented front line.
"I thought the energy was there tonight," Tchou said. "But they were really able to get the numbers up in the midfield, and that's their strength... [attacking] with speed to get three-on-two's and two-on-one's."
The two sides battled end-to-end in the first half with Barber's goal and a second from Nancy Pelligreen at 7:46 making it 2-0 at the break. Duke had more than its share of opportunities, but it could not beat Tar Heel goalie Jana Withrow, who posted nine saves en route to her eighth shutout of the season.
"We still had a chance at the half," Tchou said. "We just needed a little break here or there, maybe getting one of those [penalty] corners to go in."
But Duke failed to convert on a series of three straight corner attempts, and then a fourth attempt actually led to Barber's second goal when the Tar Heels stole Melissa Panasci's pass and raced the other way on a counter-attack. That play was indicative of a well-played, but frustrating game for Duke, which controlled the action for much of the second half, but could not find the net.
"We played hard, but we had our lapses," said Jodie Taylor after she and her fellow seniors dropped their ninth game in nine tries to Carolina. "It's always tough to lose, but especially when it's your last home game and it's UNC."
For Duke, several key breakdowns turned what should have been a close game into a blowout. Fuller stymied Carolina for much of the second half, before Joy Driscoll broke the hex with the Tar Heel's third goal with 19:01 to play. Susannah Schott scored just two minutes later off a penalty corner as the Tar Heels put the game out of reach.
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