After falling to ninth in the ACC after a 3-1 loss to Virginia Tech last Friday, the Blue Devils find themselves squarely out of the NCAA tournament picture and in danger of losing the opportunity to host a match during the conference tournament.
If there is anything that can breathe life into Duke’s season, it would be a strong performance against its Tobacco Road rival this weekend.
The Blue Devils will look to snap their recent skid when they host No. 8 North Carolina Friday at 7 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium. Duke has lost three of its last four games and must finish in the top eight in the conference standings to host an ACC tournament match. But the Blue Devils will have to go through a Tar Heel team that sits tied atop the Coastal Division with No. 2 Notre Dame.
“There should be some high incentives for the game tomorrow night,” Duke head coach John Kerr said. “We know that we can erase the tough memories of the past week if we can get a [good] result against North Carolina.”
Regardless of the disparity in records between the two teams, the rivals traditionally find themselves in close contests, with the Blue Devils’ most recent triumph coming in 2014 when they knocked off a top-ranked Tar Heel squad. Of the last 17 matchups between the teams, 16 have been decided by a single goal or ended in a tie.
But to keep the game close or replicate that memorable victory, Duke (4-5-2, 1-3-1 in the ACC) will have to find a way to get on the board against a staunch North Carolina defense.
The Tar Heels enter the matchup surrendering just 0.5 goals per game—the fifth-fewest in the nation—and have shut out eight different opponents this season. North Carolina (9-2-1, 3-1-1) has done a good job keeping the ball in front of goalkeeper James Pyle clean, limiting opponents to less than eight shot attempts per game.
Kerr acknowledged this strength of the Tar Heel defense and how it affects his squad’s strategy entering Friday’s contest.
“We’re trying to set up in a way that we can potentially counterattack them and we’ll take our opportunities as they come,” Kerr said.
To kick-start their reeling attack, the Blue Devils will look to juniors Brian White and Cameron Moseley and freshman standout Suniel Veerakone to provide a spark. After Duke lost two of its top three scorers from a year ago, White has emerged as the team’s leading scorer with four goals and 11 points this season. Veerakone and Moseley have also been sparks off the bench, tallying three goals apiece.
But the Blue Devils will have their work cut out for them on the other side of the field as well.
Throughout the season, Kerr’s squad has relied on graduate student goalkeeper Robert Moewes to make big plays in net. Moewes averages 3.46 saves per game, but has faced heavy pressure in recent games. Since junior Kevon Black suffered a potentially season-ending back injury Sept. 27 in a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Georgia Southern, Duke has surrendered 20 shots on goal in three contests, which does not bode well against a talented North Carolina attack.
The Tar Heels have registered an ACC-leading 29 goals this season and have seven players with at least seven points this season. Defenders Markus Fjortoft and CC Uche will be tasked with limiting a pair of 6-foot-5 twins—Walker and Tucker Hume—on set pieces. The rest of the Blue Devil defense will have to work on stopping other dangerous options such as North Carolina’s leading scorers Zach Wright and Nils Bruening.
“We have to make sure that we’re not giving silly fouls away on our half of the field and try to limit their set pieces and corner kicks as much as we can,” Kerr said. “Once they have those opportunities, we have to defend them well.”
In a 1-0 upset of then-No. 9 UCLA back on Sept. 2, Duke showed it had the talent to compete with tough opponents. The Blue Devils will need that talent to shine through once again and will expect emotions to be running high in a game with such high stakes.
“I remember the environment [against North Carolina last year] was insane. It was loud, it was intense and everybody was flying all over the place,” White said. “It should be a fun one out there.”
Sam Turken contributed reporting.
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