Bolstered by its best start in more than a decade, No. 9 Duke was justified in its high expectations heading into Thursday's ACC clash with No. 2 North Carolina.
And even though the Blue Devils have made great strides this season, they learned they still have some catching up to do with their Tobacco Road counterparts.
The Tar Heels (10-1-1) dominated Duke from start to finish as the Blue Devils (9-2-1) suffered their first home loss and dropped their fourth consecutive rivalry match, 3-0, at Koskinen Stadium.
"They're a very good team," head coach Robbie Church said. "We're still chasing them."
And any chances of closing that gap in one game were crushed early as North Carolina converted on its first real scoring chance in the fifth minute. A poor clear by the Blue Devils resulted in two quick shots that forced goalkeeper Cassidy Powers out of position, allowing Tar Heel forward Courtney Jones to beat Powers on a third attempt.
"If you make a mistake, [Carolina] will punish you," Church said. "That's what they did. That's why they're where they are."
The early deficit-combined with the stiff pressure from the Tar Heel back line-caused the normally attack-minded Blue Devils to stray from their game plan and play back. Duke managed only two shots in the first half, neither of which was on goal, and both came in the final 10 minutes of the period.
"I would have liked to see us forward more," sophomore Marybeth Kreger said. "We didn't really focus on our attack as much as we could have."
The Blue Devils did their best to fix that in the second half.
During halftime, the team made a conscious decision to be less cautious and try to make plays on the offensive end, Church said. Although the numbers show that Duke took seven shots in the second session, only one was on target, and the North Carolina defense never broke. A Tar Heel defender was always in place to clear a ball or deflect a shot.
Seven minutes into the period, senior midfielder Lorraine Quinn played a through ball into forward KayAnne Gummersall, but North Carolina goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris got to the ball before Gummersall could get a foot on it. Just a few minutes later, freshman Cody Newman crossed a ball into the junior forward, but Gummersall was whistled offsides, her second such call of the match.
And as time whittled down, and the Blue Devils sent more and more bodies forward to try to tie the score, North Carolina found openings to put away the game for good.
In the 71st minute, Tar Heel forward Casey Nogueira nutmegged the defender and flicked a goal into the far post from about eight yards out. Nogueira tacked on another tally in the 89th minute when the outcome was already decided.
Although they were able to compete with the Tar Heels for much of the second half, the Blue Devils conceded superiority to their rival after being unable to play their game for large stretches of time.
"They close you down quickly, they're athletic, they're ruthless," Church said. "We're a very good team. We're just not quite at that elite level yet."
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