With 17 national championships, the North Carolina women's soccer program is nothing short of a dynasty. Even so, after earning a tie last year on the Tar Heels' home field and getting off to a strong start in the 2003 season, the Blue Devils thought they had a legitimate shot at victory. But that dream was crushed after just six minutes of play as Lindsay Tarpley knocked in a pair of goals, less than a minute apart, to help No. 1 North Carolina (12-0, 1-0 in the ACC) earn a 4-0 victory over No. 10 Duke (7-3-1, 0-1) last night at Koskinen Stadium.
"They came out and finished their opportunities," Duke head coach Robbie Church said. "You have to give credit to Carolina; they were ready to play. We didn't handle their pressure early and they scored on their opportunities like a great team always does."
After a Duke mistake trying to clear the ball out of the North Carolina zone, Lori Chalupny fed the ball to Tarpley, who kicked the waist-high pass into the right side of the net from eight yards out. A number of Duke players and head coach Robbie Church said after the game that from their vantage point, Tarpley appeared to be offsides.
"A little bit of a controversy on the first goal from my angle," Church said. "But that is part of the game, you have to play through that."
Then, before the Blue Devils had mentally recovered from the disputed call and the Tar Heels' first tally, North Carolina struck again. Less than a minute later, Alyssa Ramsey fed a corner kick to just beyond the front post. Tarpley headed the ball, redirecting it towards the back post, into an open right side of the goal.
"All of a sudden there were goals against [us] and we were looking around wondering what just happened," sophomore Kate Seibert said. "The first goal we thought was offsides and it caught us a little off guard, and from there they just kept scoring."
The Blue Devils were faced with making up a two-goal deficit against a Tar Heel defense that had allowed just three goals in its first eleven games.
But just minutes after North Carolina pushed its lead to 2-0, the Blue Devils came up with their best shot of the game. A crossed ball was just out of the reach of Casey McCluskey's foot, going through the North Carolina defense to an open Carmen Bognanno who was behind the play on the left side. She quickly moved in on the ball and slammed a shot towards the far post. Playing a couple yards off the goal line, North Carolina keeper Aly Winget dove and secured the ball in her hands without allowing a rebound.
"I think the keeper kind of robbed me of one actually," Bognanno said. "It was on frame. It was going in. I think that would have given us a little more confidence, but I don't think that was the do-or-die moment."
After the Blue Devils missed a chance to get on the scoreboard, North Carolina continued to push offensively and for the second time in the game, scored on a corner opportunity at the 12-minute mark. Heather O'Reilly headed the ball to the far post where an unguarded Kendall Fletcher snuck the ball around the side of the post and into the net.
The North Carolina scoring didn't stop there. At the 15-minute mark in the first half, Tarpley connected on her third goal of the game. Ramsey dribbled the ball deep into the right corner and fed Tarpley, who took a hard shot from 10 yards out. Duke goaltender Thora Helgadottir slid in front of the low shot but wasn't able to corral the ball, as it skipped over her body and into the goal. v
The hat trick was the fourth of Tarpley's career and the second of the season. The sophomore leads the ACC with 10 goals.
From there, despite a number of strong scoring opportunities by the North Carolina offense, Helgadottir and the Blue Devil defense were able to hold the Tar Heels scoreless through the rest of the game. Helgadottir finished the contest with five saves.
After halftime, the Blue Devils came out with more energy, but were still unable to muster a goal. North Carolina's defensive strategy was to allow the Blue Devils space over the top, while preventing passes through the middle of the defense. And while the Blue Devils were able to generate a few scoring opportunities over the top, the speed of the North Carolina defense made such chances difficult.
"I don't think we had as many chances as we would have liked because we weren't generating as much offense through our defense and midfield, but we did get good chances," McCluskey said.
The Blue Devils, who were visibly disappointed after the game, do not have long to dwell on the loss. Instead, the team will try to use its improved play in the second half as encouragement in preparation for a home matchup against Wake Forest Saturday night.
"Any time you make a mistake, Carolina will punish you and that is exactly what they did," Church said. "They punished us for the mistakes we made. They have been in this arena a lot and we are just trying to get into the arena of a big game and I think their experience really showed."
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