In a highly entertaining match between two ACC archrivals, Duke fell to the No. 1 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels 3-1. For the game's first 80 minutes, the Blue Devils (4-4, 0-2 in the ACC) kept the deficit to within one, before an aggressive Duke formation shift led to two UNC goals in the final eight minutes that sealed the affair.
Duke's only strike came in dramatic fashion, as Carly Fuller blasted a 40-yard shot over the head of North Carolina goalkeeper Kristin DePlatchett with just two seconds left on the clock.
Before Elizabeth Ball scored her second goal of the contest in the 82nd minute, Duke had many chances to equalize, as the Tar Heels (9-0, 1-0) struggled with nerves and fatigue.
However, after Ball's perfectly struck ball found the net's top right-hand corner, North Carolina appeared to have regained its composure.
"We've got a lot of experienced players at a lot of positions who have been in a lot of close games," UNC coach Anson Dorrance said. "The thing I'm most proud of is that this is our sixth game in 12 days. That's a remarkable run of games against the caliber of competition we're playing."
North Carolina tallied its first strike in the game's 28th minute. Anne Remy deftly flicked a Susan Bush cross to the middle of the box, where Ball promptly roofed a blast from 12 yards out.
However, unlike in recent years, when an early Tar Heel goal quickly opened up the flood gates, Duke held strong behind the excellent play of goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir, who finished the game with 12 saves. Helgadottir made several brilliant stops, including a spectacular reflex save on Alyssa Ramsey early in the first half, keeping the game scoreless.
Afterwards, Helgadottir, who frequently plays for the national team of her native Iceland, compared the dramatic contest to others she has played abroad.
"This was huge," she said. "The team was nervous because this was the biggest game of the season. It doesn't really matter if you're playing another country or if you're playing your biggest rival."
Helgadottir managed to keep her team close until coach Robbie Church, needing a goal to equalize, ordered his team to shift from a defensive 3-3-4 alignment into a more attacking 3-4-3. Ball scored almost immediately.
"We're always going to play to win," Church said. "It's eight minutes left, we're down a goal, we're pushing hard--we need another front runner up there. I would do it again in the same situation."
Church added adamantly that staying defensive, so as to keep the score as close as possible, was simply not an option."
"This program's too far along to play for respect," he said. "We play to win every time we step out on the field."
Despite the game's one-sided final score, the Blue Devils came off the field with heads held high.
An upbeat Katie Heaps talked about the effort of the team's senior class, who entered this game realizing that the two teams might meet again in the ACC tournament.
"I think all the seniors gave 100 percent," she said. "I think the team works off that. The game showed that we can beat a Carolina, we can beat the number one team in the country."
For a 10-minute stretch late in the second half, Duke came very close to pulling even. However, despite several opportunities, the Blue Devils were unable to score until the contest's final seconds.
"I think that's the best we've come out this year, and I think we were the better team for a large part of the second half," Duke forward Sarah Pickens said. "I'm just personally frustrated because I need to be able to finish better."
Typical of the Duke-UNC rivalry, both sides played with a very physical style. As it became clear that referee Peter Dhima would permit aggressive play, each team battled with grit and determination.
"They played honorably; they played hard," Dorrance said of Duke. "It's a contact sport, and we have some very physical players ourselves. This game isn't for choir girls."
Standout North Carolina midfielder Jena Kluegel-who earlier this fall played with the U.S. national team, but whom Duke managed to hold pointless-discussed the contest's hard-fought atmosphere.
"It's always a great fight between these two teams. It was very combative," Kluegel said. "Duke came out running at us. Every 50-50 ball, it was a battle. They really dominated part of the second half. We felt that. They had a lot of great chances, and they could have stuck one in at the end."
Afterwards, Church spoke about what a joy it was to see his team play so well against the perennially elite Tar Heels.
"I was very proud," he said. "We have struggled trying to find our chemistry, trying to find our right combination. To see them really start to live up to their potential, and the level of play that we can play at-I was very happy."
Church, ever wary, also guarded against being too content with what amounted to be only a moral victory.
"We were disappointed to lose that game," Church said. "We stood toe-to-toe to them, and we battled with them the whole match. I want to see us build on that, and continue to grow. I don't want that just to be the Carolina game."
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