The 49ers were hoping to strike gold this year with an undefeated home record. That was until the Blue Devils showed up to pan UNC-Charlotte's dreams.
The 49ers were undefeated at home heading into their final home match of the year last night against Duke (11-8, 2-5 in the ACC). But UNC-Charlotte (12-5-1) suffered its first loss at Transamerica Field as the Blue Devils cruised to a 4-1 win.
Down 1-0 at halftime, freshman Carly Fuller scored in the 51st minute to erase a halftime deficit, tie the game at one and shift the game's momentum over to the Blue Devils.
"Carly popped off a corner kick, kind of a scrambler up front-she buried it," coach Bill Hempen said.
Fellow freshman Brigid Bowdell quickly followed up 14 minutes later with the Blue Devils' second goal.
Junior Kasey Truman provided assists for both of Duke's first two goals, which would prove to be enough to finish off the 49ers.
"At the half, we were behind and then we got a goal real early," Hempen said. "After 2-1, we were kind of back on our heels. Charlotte was really pushing forward."
But as the clock wound down, Duke was still going strong. With five minutes left, junior Katie Heaps scored Duke's third goal of the night, yet Duke's sudden surge in offense was still not done.
Sherrill Kester, who missed her previous five shots, rounded out the game with the Blue Devils' final goal in the 89th minute, assisted by sophomore Sarah Pickens. Kester leads the Blue Devils in scoring this season with 13 goals.
In the first half, Duke took nine shots but was unable to convert any of them. The 49ers scored first four minutes before halftime when a shot by Stephanie Bamier got past Duke keeper Isis Dallis. Dallis tallied nine saves throughout the game, bringing her to 70 on the season.
"It was a pretty close 4-1 game, but we outshot them," Hempen said, "I'm very pleased with the effort tonight."
Hempen has every reason to be pleased. The win comes on the heels of a victory Sunday against Florida State and as the Blue Devils end their season, they hope to ride this momentum into the ACC tournament and possibly the NCAA tournament.
"Any win at this time of the year looks good in the eyes of the selection committee," Hempen said.
The Blue Devils make their final regular season appearance Saturday at Koskinen Stadium against UNC-Greensboro at 7 p.m.
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