CHAPEL HILL—After a thrilling comeback victory the last time Duke faced North Carolina, another come-from-behind result was not in the cards Saturday night.
After Friday’s scheduled match was postponed due to rain, the Blue Devils dropped their third straight contest, falling on the road to the No. 2 Tar Heels 2-1 on a wet Saturday evening at Fetzer Field. Alex Olofson gave North Carolina a a quick 1-0 lead in the fourth minute and the Tar Heels struck quickly in the second half as well thanks to a strike by Alan Winn before holding off another Blue Devil comeback bid.
“I thought it was a great game considering the conditions, great for the fans," Duke head coach John Kerr said. "They [the Tar Heels] were sharp tonight. They’re very good."
The game did not get off to the start the Blue Devils (4-3-1, 0-2-1 in the ACC) had envisioned, as they found themselves down a goal less than five minutes into the game.
After what looked like some innocuous build-up play from North Carolina (7-0-1, 3-0-0) early in the match, Tar Heel forward Zach Wright played Olofson in on goal from the right side of the pitch. The senior fired a low shot headed straight for Duke goalkeeper Wilson Fisher, but the ball skidded oddly on the wet turf and seemed to catch Fisher off-guard. The graduate student mistimed his dive and the ball went right under him and into the net.
“We got sucker-punched in the first 10 minutes of the game,” Kerr said. “They got an early goal and then we were chasing the game from then on.”
After opening the scoring, North Carolina looked to be the stronger side, as the Blue Devils were not able to find any rhythm in possession and spent much of the first 25 minutes defending.
Duke switched up its starting lineup for the first time this season Saturday, adding freshman Ciaran McKenna into the midfield and moving Zach Mathers further up the field in a more advanced, creative central midfield role. The move put the team’s craftiest midfielder further toward the goal and also afforded McKenna an opportunity to further prove himself.
“Ciaran’s been doing very well and he covers a lot of ground,” Kerr said. “I thought that now was the time for him to demonstrate that he can get around the park and close people down and I thought he did a great job today.”
The Blue Devils looked better as the half continued, and almost got back in the game as sophomore Jeremy Ebobisse forced Tar Heel goalkeeper James Pyle into a good save. The save fell to the feet of sophomore Brian White, who almost tied the game, shooting the ball onto the top of the net from a tough angle.
Duke almost fell behind by two goals 10 minutes later, but Fisher made a nimble save with his left foot to deny North Carolina's Tucker Hume and keep the Blue Devils in the game heading into the locker room.
The start of the second period was almost a mirror image of the first. Less than four minutes into the half, Wright collected a through-ball on the right side of the pitch and crossed the ball right into the path of Winn, who fired past a helpless Fisher from point-blank range.
“It was disappointing to go two goals down,” Kerr said. “We weren’t playing terribly. We kind of fell asleep there for a second…. Unfortunately, Winn got free and scored a nice goal. “
After conceding the second goal, Duke looked to get itself back in the game quickly, as a Mathers cross pinballed around the box until it fell to sophomore Macario Hing-Glover, who sent his shot right of the goal.
The Blue Devils did not have to wait much longer after Hing-Glover’s attempt to find themselves on the board. After the ball fell to Mathers in the midfield, the Keller, Texas, native took a couple of dribbles before firing a blast with his left foot from nearly 30 yards out that careened off the right post and into the back of the net. The strike was Mather’s second of the season.
After the goal, Duke continued to pour forward offensively and left itself susceptible to several scoring opportunities by the Tar Heels. North Carolina would have extended its lead if not for a key block by defender Jared Rist and a impressive clearance off the line by Tyler Hilliard. Despite several other Tar Heel attacks, the Blue Devil defense remained stout, and managed to keep the deficit to just one goal.
But Duke just could not find that second crucial goal and dropped its third game in a row.
“Everyone on the team knows that we haven’t been playing badly,” Kerr said. “We’re playing well—we've just got to get over the hump.”
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