The Duke-North Carolina rivalry may get more publicity for what happens on the hardwood, but over the last few seasons, it's been just as intense on the pitch.
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels have met six times in the last five seasons, with each game decided by a single goal and three requiring overtime.
The rivalry was particularly dramatic last season, when the teams played 240 minutes of scoreless soccer over two matches. Duke prevailed in the second meeting-the ACC tournament Championship-on penalty kicks.
The teams split the meetings the previous four seasons, including a memorable 3-2 Duke victory at Koskinen Stadium in 2004 when Danny Kramer scored the winning goal with 1:18 left on the clock.
That game reminded head coach John Rennie of another classic in 1988, when Duke won on a Joey Valenti goal with just six seconds remaining.
"The game like [tonight's] is why I came to Duke," junior goaltender Justin Papadakis said. "It's just something intangible about it that creates a great atmosphere-just the history between the two schools, the proximity and the great athletic departments both schools have."
The 2006 edition of the rivalry pits the fifth-ranked Blue Devils (11-2-1, 4-1-1 ACC) against the struggling No. 21 Tar Heels (10-4-2, 2-3-1). After a quick start to the season and a national No. 1 ranking, North Carolina has yet to win in four October matches. The Tar Heels are coming off back-to-back 1-0 losses to Campbell and No. 3 Wake Forest.
"You're kind of afraid that they're coming here with a chip on their shoulder," Rennie said. "They want to prove the last couple weeks have been abnormal. They've had a full week to recover, so I'm sure they'll be refreshed and ready. They're not happy being 2-3-1 when they were preseason favorites [to win the conference]. The odds are it's going to be another hotly contested, close game."
Duke, on the other hand, enters the game riding a four-game winning streak that has given the Blue Devils sole possession of first place in the rugged ACC.
The Blue Devils can clinch the regular-season conference title with a victory tonight.
"I think we're ready," Papadakis said. "We've trained real hard and we've really developed over the last few weeks. Everything is coming together right now. This will be our biggest challenge of the year, and this is to secure the top of the ACC and maybe the country. It's going to be a fun night."
As if the Blue Devils needed any extra motivation, the team will celebrate Senior Night, honoring Kyle Helton, Chris Loftus, Danny Miller, Ryan Pasconi, Chase Perfect and Scott Siegel.
Duke will look to craft some new memories tonight, with a victory over their rivals from down the road and an ACC crown to match.
"From a game standpoint, it's not really different from a lot of games we play," Rennie said. "But a lot of guys know each other, it's bragging rights locally and it should be a fantastic crowd. That makes it special."
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