In order to halt a rare two-game losing streak, the Blue Devils will need to upset the one-loss Tar Heels.
But when No. 8 Duke (8-4, 2-1 in the ACC) travels to Fetzer Field to take on No. 3 North Carolina (10-1, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday night, past records go out the window.
In 16 years of playing each other, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils stand dead even at 13 victories apiece.
“I think if you look back at the history of our games, I would say that 70 percent of the games are one-goal games,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “They’re typically close, well-played. I think, interestingly enough, years where one team is supposed to be better than the other, the other team can win.”
North Carolina certainly boasts an impressive resume thus far.
Its offense features the nation’s leading scorer—sophomore Abby Friend, who has notched 37 goals this season. Additionally, three other Tar Heels have racked up 21 or more goals. In contrast, freshman Taylor Trimble leads Duke in scoring with 21.
“They have four kids that are doing a lot,” Kimel said. “The four of them do the majority of the ball-handling and scoring for Carolina, so I think that obviously we’re prepared for each of those kids.”
The Blue Devils are coming off one of their poorest defensive efforts of the year, in which they allowed a season-high 14 goals to then-No. 16 Virginia Mar. 24. Duke, however, utilized its week off to retool its defense.
“Our defense has been a strength for us this year, and we didn’t perform well last week,” Kimel said. “So we just focused on some basics…. Carolina’s a really high-powered offense, and we need to make sure that we’re on a very baseline level, fundamentally prepared defensively.”
Unlike North Carolina, not a single Blue Devil ranks in the top 10 in the ACC in scoring, but Duke makes up for it with depth on the offensive end.
The Blue Devils boast eight players with double-digit scoring totals, led by freshmen Kerrin Maurer and Trimble. On top of that, Duke sits atop the ACC averaging more than six assists per game.
“I really like our balanced attack,” Kimel said. “You look at us, and it’s kind of like, wow. Who do you worry about? You kind of have to worry about everybody. If someone doesn’t have a good day, then somebody else is liable to hurt you, and I think that’s a real strength for us.”
With Tar Heel goalie Lauren Maksym allowing a third-best nationally 7.32 goals per game, the Blue Devils will need to make the most of their offensive chances. And after losing two straight by a total of just three goals, Duke’s young attackers have had the chance to learn just how valuable the late-game goals can be.
“I think that we do have people that in close games can step up and make things happen,” Kimel said. “I think that we haven’t necessarily done a great job of executing those things, and I think that’s a byproduct of our youth…. In the last week, we’ve gotten better. We’ve worked on our end-of-game and end-of-half situations, so I look for that to be something we’ll be more confident in.”
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