CHAPEL HILL -- The Duke men's soccer team expected a challenge Saturday evening as they drove the nine miles down to Fetzer Field at North Carolina. The team's expectations were more than met as the unranked Blue Devils (4-3, 1-1 in the ACC) fell to the No. 14 Tar Heels (6-2, 1-1) 1-0.
"It was a very physical game," Duke coach John Rennie said. "It was a battle out there, a war that the home team won."
In a game dominated by UNC's suffocating defense and quick-strike offense, which managed 12 shots, the Tar Heels seemed a little more crisp than the Blue Devils. Almost right from the opening whistle, Carolina commenced a barrage on the Duke goal.
Less than 10 minutes into the game, UNC sophomore forward Sean McGinty broke through the middle of the box, in between two Duke defenders and fired a shot. Only a diving kick save from Duke senior goalkeeper Scott Maslin prevented the Blue Devils from being in an early hole.
The Duke defense, led as always by Maslin, played quite well overall, suffering only a few breakdowns. Sophomore defender Matt Ahumada had a particularly strong game, always challenging any UNC offensive runs.
The game's lone goal came as a result of a fortuitous bounce for the Tar Heels. In the
"[Pause] made the decision for him to play by the way he trained all week," UNC coach Elmar Bolowich said. "Having him on the field is like having a player who can control the pace of the game. His coming in has already made an impact."
UNC freshman forward Marcus Storey was also a thorn in Duke's side. He was always around the ball, continually pressuring the Duke defense with aggressive runs and finesse passing. Throughout the game, Storey attracted much attention from the Blue Devils.
"Great players you can't play one against one; you have to get more help from other defenders and try to double team them, and we tried to do that," Rennie said. "[Storey] is a very quick, skillful, talented player. He's a handful."
In the face of the stingy Carolina defense, Duke was never really able to sustain any offensive pressure. The Blue Devils constantly had to resort to long balls that often found nothing but empty space just to advance the ball.
"We had some chances, but not enough," Rennie said. "We did the best we could."
At the heart of Carolina's suppressing defense was sophomore midfielder Grant Porter, who practically shadowed Duke's best offensive threats. Limiting the Blue Devils to only four shots, Duke only had one very close scoring opportunity.
With about nine minutes remaining in the game, Duke junior Donald McIntosh picked the ball up in the middle of the pitch, and started dribbling directly toward the Carolina goal. As he entered the box, he nearly split two defenders, but then just pushed his shot wide left of the UNC goal from about 12 yards out.
That would prove to be Duke's last chance to score for the game, as Carolina essentially ran out the clock after that. The victory extended UNC's lead in the all-time series against Duke to 34-30-6.
The Blue Devils will try to shake off this loss to their hated rivals by heading up to Rutgers, N.J. next weekend, where they will take part in the Rutgers/adidas Classic. Duke will play matches against St. Johns and Rutgers, both ranked in the top 20.
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