Sportswrap: Duke women's soccer beats North Carolina, football knocks off Northwestern

Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for the week of Sept. 13-Sept. 19.

Women’s soccer
The fourth-ranked Blue Devils kicked off ACC play with a trip down Tobacco Road to take on No. 2 North Carolina. After a hardfought 90 minutes of play that featured a plethora of fouls and cards, Duke emerged with a 1-0 win, marking both their first victory against the Tarheels since 2015 and North Carolina’s first-ever loss at Dorrance Field. The Blue Devils may have given it their all Friday night, but there is no rest for the weary, as Duke will continue its stretch of road games with a trip to No. 7 Virginia Thursday. -Jonathan Browning

Football
Entering Saturday, the Blue Devils were field goal underdogs at home against Northwestern and were looking to avoid a 1-2 start to the year. Fast forward 60 minutes, though, and Duke came out on the other side a winner, knocking the Wildcats onto the mat with a 21-point first quarter en route to a 30-23 victory. The second half was not particularly pretty, as the Blue Devils were outscored 16-0 and needed a late third-down conversion to ice it, but any time you can beat a Power Five opponent, you’ll take it. The nonconference endeavors continue for Duke, with a matchup against Kansas set for 4 p.m. in Wallace Wade Stadium this Saturday. -Max Rego

Men’s soccer
Closing out a marquee weekend for Duke soccer, the No. 12 men’s team toppled the No. 16 Tar Heels 3-0 on the road, defeating their arch rivals by multiple points for the first time since 1999. The win brings them to 5-1 on the season, with each win being a shutout so far. After defeating then sixth-ranked Virginia Tech last week, the Blue Devils look toward the rest of their season optimistically, especially as they find scoring in new places. Two of Duke’s three goals were the first of the scorer’s career. However, with unranked but talented Syracuse on the slate for next week, the Blue Devils still have work to do and will look to keep up this weekend’s momentum. -Sasha Richie

Volleyball
After dropping its first two matches last weekend in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Duke has regained its footing, improving to a 9-2 overall record this week with wins over North Carolina Central, Long Island, and Cornell in the Duke Classic Tournament. All three home victories were achieved in straight sets thanks in part to stellar offense by Ade Owokoniran who totaled 32 kills, topping the box score in every match. Equally essential to Duke’s tournament success was Mackenzie Cole, who reached 100 career aces against North Carolina Central, becoming only the 18th Blue Devil to do so. These victories marked the end of the preseason, as the Blue Devils will start ACC play against Boston College this Friday. -Christian Olsen

Field hockey
Seeking to gain momentum in early season play, the Blue Devils had a couple tough tests this past weekend, facing off against No. 15 Wake Forest and James Madison. On Friday, Duke struggled offensively, scoring just one goal and falling to the Demon Deacons 3-1. The team quickly bounced back with a 3-1 win Sunday afternoon against James Madison. Though there are certainly some positive takeaways from the weekend, the Blue Devils will need to improve with a tough schedule in the coming weeks. Duke gets back in action with a home game this Friday night against Louisville. -Matthew Hawkins

Women’s golf
Fall golf is here. With high expectations once again, Duke teed off at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in Minnesota this past week, one of four tuneups this semester before the season truly gets going in February. Over 54 holes, the No. 2 Blue Devils finished in second place on the team leaderboard at -7, seven shots back of South Carolina. Erica Shepherd, Gina Kim and Anne Chen all placed in the top-10 individually, a promising sign for head coach Dan Brooks. Duke will not hit the links competitively again until Oct. 4 at the Windy City Collegiate Classic. -Rego

Cross country
Duke fielded a limited lineup at the Adidas XC Challenge this past Friday, choosing to rest the vast majority of its top runners en route to a fifth-place finish for the men and no team score for the women (not enough runners). Sophomore Jack Kovach—who finished 11th on the team at the Elon Opener Sept. 3—led the way for the men with a 14th-place finish, while fellow sophomore Emily Cole—who missed the Elon Opener but is expected to be one of the team’s leading runners this year—led the women with a 17th-place finish. Head coach Angela Reckart and company now turn their focus to what will be the team’s first big test of the season at the Battle in Beantown this upcoming Friday. -Evan Kolin