In front of a record crowd at Koskinen Stadium Sunday night, Danny Kramer slid a ball between the North Carolina and the post with less than 90 seconds remaining to lift Duke to a 3-2 victory.
With first place in the ACC and Tobacco Road bragging rights on the line, No. 2 Duke took on North Carolina Sunday night in front of 6,350 people, the largest regular season crowd Koskinen Stadium has ever seen. Like last year’s double-overtime thriller, the game was fast-paced and physical; but unlike last year, the Blue Devils came out on top, 3-2.
In its first comeback win of the season, Duke (11-0, 3-0 in the ACC) weakened the Tar Heels’ (2-5-2, 1-1-0) quick offensive attack while two goals from Nigi Adogwa off the bench in the second half and a spectacular header by Danny Kramer in the last 90 seconds of the game helped extend the Blue Devils’ winning streak to 11.
“This win was obviously special because number one, it was North Carolina, and number two, this is the first time we’ve ever been behind in a game,” defender Danny Miller said. “It shows that we can fight through adversity. Because we’ve always been up, it’s always been easy for us, but this put us to the test. It shows us that we’re not just a team that could play ahead, but that we can come from behind.”
With the game tied for the second time and just minutes remaining, overtime looked likely for the second year in a row. With only 1:18 left on the clock, however, Kramer scored his third game-winning goal of the season as the crowd exploded in cheers, and the Blue Devils leaped into each others’ arms. Off of a corner kick, Blake Camp kept the ball alive in front of the net. As the ball came down, Kramer dove, heading it into the bottom left corner of the goal between the Tar Heel keeper and the post.
“It was just a big adrenaline rush,” Kramer said. “Whether I scored or anyone scored, it would have been great either way. I just love that I could help out the team.”
In typical Duke-North Carolina fashion, the teams were ready to battle from the start. The Tar Heels, though, struck first 15 minutes into the contest on a fluke goal. A North Carolina attacker was pitted against a Duke defender in a one-on-one battle near the Blue Devil box. The ball was kicked toward charging players and goalie Justin Trowbridge tried to send it out, but the Duke keeper deflected the ball right back into his own net.
Many times in the first half, the North Carolina offense used its quickness to get past Duke defenders for open shots on goal. Even though the Blue Devils outshot the Tar Heels in the first half 6-4, the North Carolina shots presented better scoring opportunities, as demonstrated by the four saves Trowbridge tallied.
“In the first half, they got behind us three or four times,” head coach John Rennie said. “We just weren’t used to their speed. We talked about it, prepared for it. Perhaps we adjusted and felt a little safer in the back. [In the second half], we took that away from them and that was a big help.”
Duke’s defense realized that it needed to keep the Tar Heels from getting fast breaks in front of the net.
“Coach just told us to make sure we keep them in front of us because obviously their speed was faster than ours, so we needed to make sure to give them some room so that they wouldn’t get behind us and use their speed to get past us,” Miller said. “They hit us really fast. We knew they were going to be really fast, but we didn’t realize how they were going to expose us the way they did. We have to give them credit for the way they came out and played real hard and fast.”
As the defense adapted to North Carolina’s speed, the Blue Devil offense was sparked by senior Nigi Adogwa, who was injured in preseason and is not quite ready to play a full game Rennie said. In the 72nd minute, Adogwa received a long pass from Blake Camp and took the ball past defenders. As goalie Justin Hughes came out of the Tar Heel box, Adogwa kicked the ball left of Hughes and into the net to tie the game at 1-1. Seven minutes later, in similar fashion, a wide open Adogwa scored again from a long pass, his fourth goal of the season.
“In the first half we had a very nice rhythm and were pretty much in control of the game,” North Carolina head coach Elmar Bolowich said. “[But in the second half] we expected Duke to throw a little bit more at us seeing that they needed to come back from a 1-0 deficit... Our defense didn’t anticipate the two long balls early enough to drop off and pick them up. So, Adogwa could go through [and score]. He was very sharp there and he took advantage of the opportunity.”
With the Blue Devils up by a goal and about six minutes left, the Tar Heels mustered another scoring opportunity. North Carolina’s offense put pressure on Duke near the goal, but a defender kicked the ball out of bounds. On the subsequent corner chance, however, Ray Fumo centered the ball for Tim Merritt, who put it past Trowbridge. It was only the fifth goal Duke’s keeper has allowed this season.
As the seconds wound down, an overjoyed Blue Devil team celebrated Kramer’s goal and its hard-fought win.
“I’m not going to lie,” Kramer said. “Things are more fun when you win.”
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