CHAPEL HILL - Up 6-4 with 5:21 left in the first half, No. 4 Duke made a careless mistake that changed the entire complexion of its rematch with No. 5 North Carolina. The Blue Devils were attempting to get the ball out of the shadow of their own goal when they suddenly lost it on an errant pass. The Tar Heels' Julia Ryan picked up the loose ball and sprinted toward the Blue Devils' goal, scoring the only uncontested point of the entire game.
That goal sparked UNC (15-3, 4-2 in the ACC) to score four unanswered points and take the lead for good, holding off Duke (13-3, 4-2) 12-11 Friday afternoon at Fetzer Field in the ACC tournament semifinals.
"It was a typical Duke-Carolina game," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "They just edged us in a game of inches. We had our chances, but in the end had too many missed opportunities."
And the Blue Devils had their opportunities to win the game right up until the end-but could not convert.
Duke kept close in the second half and seemed on the verge of sending the contest into overtime when Allie Johnson forced a huge turnover with 2:37 left. The Blue Devils quickly moved down the field and gave the ball to senior attack Kristen Waagbo, who was in prime position to score. The shot, however, came out slow, giving North Carolina goalkeeper Kristen Hordy her seventh save of the afternoon. The miss by Waagbo ended any chance Duke had at advancing to the conference tournament finals.
"Offensively, we got out of sync," Kimel said. "They had more patience on defense."
Without finding their rhythm consistently, the Blue Devils were drawn into a back-and-forth battle with the Tar Heels that resembled the game that played out when the two rivals met April 20 in Durham.
The first half started with a bang as Waagbo scored just 43 seconds into the match on an assist from Leigh Jester. The Tar Heels' Jess Allen scored 45 seconds later, however, to even the score at one. After the two squads traded goals again, North Carolina tallied two more goals in less than a minute, forcing Kimel to call timeout and make defensive adjustments.
Coming out of the timeout, Duke's defensive effort was much improved and it held UNC scoreless for over 18 minutes. The Blue Devils took advantage of their rival's scoring drought and used a slow, patient offensive attack to find the back of the net four straight times. Johnson's goal with 10:35 left in the first half capped the run and gave Duke a 6-4 advantage, prompting the Tar Heels to call a timeout of their own.
North Carolina's offense began to click again after the timeout as they answered the Blue Devil scoring run with four straight goals of their own, putting Duke in an 8-6 hole. The Blue Devils battled back and tied the game at 10 on Rachel Sanford's free position shot with 12:31 left in the game. Duke, however, could not keep its run going and surrendered two more quick goals to the Tar Heels. The Blue Devils clawed back to within one on Jester's goal with 8:59 left to cut the margin to 12-11-but that would be it for Duke.
"We just weren't capitalizing on our opportunities," Waagbo said. "We were throwing the ball way and down the stretch we were not taking very good shots."
Two of the missed opportunities were goals that were nullified by penalties. When Rachel Sanford's score midway through the second half was taken away, Kimel seemed visibly upset with the call.
"I'm assuming that it was a shooting space call, but I just don't know," said Kimel, when asked about the penalties.
With the loss, Duke must regroup as it only has one more regular-season contest before NCAA tournament play begins. In particular, the Blue Devils look to capitalize on more scoring opportunities and come out with more hustle and intensity.
"They just came out scrappy," senior attack Leigh Jester said. "We could have done that more."
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