One shot was all it took for David to slay Goliath in biblical times.
And one shot was all the women's soccer team wanted in its underdog bid to win the ACC championship yesterday afternoon on its home turf of Koskinen Stadium.
By knocking off top-seeded Clemson 1-0 Friday night, the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (13-7-1, 6-4 in the ACC) earned the right for the shot to spoil perennial ACC champion North Carolina's shot at a 13th straight ACC Tournament Championship.
But Sunday's modern-day David vs. Goliath matchup would not be a repeat of history's favorite Cinderella story.
The Tar Heels (16-3, 7-3), fulfilling their role as the favorites going into the game simply wouldn't allow the upset, cruising to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Blue Devils.
Perhaps what somebody didn't tell Duke is that, unlike the biblical story in which David needed a single rock to slay the giant, it was going to take much more than one shot to beat the Goliath of North Carolina on the soccer field Sunday.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, that is all they could manage to produce offensively the entire afternoon-one lone shot on goal-and it wasn't really that close to its intended target.
Carolina on the other hand, tallied 15 shots on goal, outshooting Duke on the day by an overwhelming 15-1 margin.
The disparity of shots on goal, however, only tells part of the story of the game. The speedy Tar Heels dominated play from the get-go by pressuring and harassing the Blue Devils.
"If we are playing our best, we are going to force teams to play at a much faster pace than they are used to," North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance said after the game.
"It's so hard for us to replicate the kind of pressure that North Carolina is putting you under," Duke coach Bill Hempen added. "You can talk about it as much as you want, but until you are out there feeling it, it is different."
Succumbing to the early pressure, Duke turned the ball over repeatedly, and the Tar Heels looked to capitalize and get on the scoreboard right away. Barely three minutes into the game, UNC forward Meredith Florance had a breakaway opportunity that looked like an easy goal.
Blue Devil goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir came out of the box to make a lunging save. However, she wasn't able to hold onto the ball and deflected it out of bounds, just beside the right goalpost.
For a moment, it looked as if the freshman goalkeeper was going to be able to work her magic again for the Blue Devils in leading them to another low-scoring, defense-minded victory.
But in the face of the constant deluge of Tar Heel shots on goal, Helgadottir and the Duke defense could not come up with their third consecutive shutout of the ACC Tournament.
After several other failed scoring opportunities, North Carolina eventually broke through the Duke defense at the 13:48 mark of the first half when freshman Alyssa Ramsey took a nicely placed Florance pass and scored on a wide-open shot that left a flat-footed Helgadottir frozen in her tracks.
From that point on, the Tar Heels didn't look back, scoring another goal later in the half and tacking on two more in the second stanza.
"I'm pleased not just because we won, but because we played tremendously well," Dorrance said after the game. "I was pleased with the quality of our finishing today and with our performance all weekend."
The Blue Devils' improbable run to the ACC Tournament championship had come to and end, but Hempen was quick to credit his players for the positives that did come out of the weekend.
"I'm real proud of our kids," Hempen said. "Probably not a whole lot of people gave us a chance to get to this point and to knock off a number one seed. And to come from, in essence, the loser's bracket as a fifth seed is pretty impressive."
Duke's 1-0 upset of the fifth-ranked Tigers Friday was eerily similar to the Blue Devil's 1-0 victory over Clemson during the regular season. Both games were hard-fought, defensive battles.
On Friday night, Duke midfielder Carly Fuller provided the heroics as her blast from the left side of the goal gave the Blue Devils all the offense they would need en route to the 1-0 victory. The impressive win left Clemson with only its second loss of the year-both losses coming against Duke.
Despite the loss, Duke earned a bid in the Women's College Cup Sunday night. The Blue Devils received a home match against Furman on Wednesday and if they win will face third-seeded Clemson, one team they have not lost to in two contests this season.
Notes: Duke defenders Katie Heaps, Stephanie Kraay and goalie Thora Helgadottir were named to the ACC All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of yesterday's championship game.
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