Close, but no cigar

CHAPEL HILL -- The shot was perfect.

 The ball launched off Tar Heel midfielder Wes Shull's foot, arched around a wall of Duke defenders, and slammed into the upper right corner of the goal. The beautiful stroke gave No. 8 North Carolina (6-1-1, 1-1 in the ACC) a 3-2 win over the Blue Devils (2-5-1, 0-3), and it came with two minutes left in double overtime.

 "As soon as he hit it, I knew it was in," senior defender Matt Ahumada said. "I mean he hit a great shot. There was nothing the keeper could do."

 Duke head coach John Rennie had similar thoughts.

 "It was a great shot. It was a great goal," Rennie said. "If you are going to lose a heart-breaking game, you certainly want it to be on something that's worthy, and that was a tremendous shot."

 A critical and controversial moment in the game came with eight minutes to go in the first half. Shortly after Blue Devil freshman Chris Loftus scored his first collegiate goal to tie the score at 1-1, the Tar Heels drew a foul on the right side of the field behind the 18-yard box. North Carolina midfielder Ray Fumo shot the ball, and as it approached the net it appeared to brush the outstretched hands of a Tar Heel attacker--changing the ball's direction just enough to slip in for a score.

 "Our players are telling us that the second one was a blatant handball, but I didn't see it," Rennie said. "I saw the ball change direction. I thought that somebody might've headed it. They're saying that it was a blatant handball that deflected it in. They didn't get goals off the run of play."

 The ambiguous goal put the Blue Devils at a 2-1 deficit going into the second half. But Duke came out fired up and clawed its way to a tie score. A corner kick swung into the box, and junior Nigi Adogwa knocked the ball towards the net. The ball deflected off North Carolina goalie Ford Williams and right in front of junior Joe Kelly, who beat Williams bottom-left for his first score of the season.

 Towards the end of regulation, Blue Devil goalie Justin Trowbridge made a game-saving play to keep Duke alive. With one minute left, the Tar Heels lofted a ball into the box, and UNC's Jamie Watson headed the ball towards the goal. Trowbridge leaped in the air, and deflected the ball over the crossbar.

 With the score tied 2-2 in the first overtime, Duke's defense had another heroic stop. Trowbridge came out of the net to clear the ball, but the clear was short and went right to a UNC attacker. Ahumada scrambled to cover the goal with his keeper out of position, and headed away a lofting shot by the Tar Heel's Corey Ashe to keep the game tied. Even though North Carolina had the last laugh, the Blue Devils were not demoralized.

 "They should be proud of their effort tonight," Rennie said. "The results aren't there, but it's not because we're not a good team, and it's not because we're not working hard. If we keep playing as hard as we have been, and fight as hard, the results will be there."