In the Blue Devils’ last four games, they have scored 17 goals. In the Tar Heels’ last four contests, they have allowed exactly zero.
A surging offense and an impenetrable defense will go head-to-head tomorrow night when North Carolina hosts Duke at Fetzer Field at 7:30 p.m. Both teams are in the midst of hot streaks, with the Blue Devils (5-4, 2-0 in the ACC) having won four straight and the No. 5 Tar Heels (8-1, 2-1) on a five-game victory streak of their own.
Importantly for Duke, in its most recent triumph over Presbyterian, the offense began to show flexibility to supplement the scoring prowess of Andrew Wenger, who leads the team with 11 goals. Freshman Nick Palodichuk put two in the back of the net Tuesday, and fellow first-year Nat Eggleston notched his first career goal in the match.
As defenses key in on Wenger, the Blue Devils see the potential for increased contributions from his teammates, which they will need to become the first team to score on North Carolina since Sept. 13.
“We have the ability to score from all angles,” head coach John Kerr said. “You might be able to stop or slow Wenger down—you won’t be able to stop him all the way—but taking advantage of double teams, we talked about that.”
Looking to thwart the Duke attack will be a North Carolina defense that features almost a completely different look from last season—junior Jordan Gafa is the only returning member from last year’s unit. Starting defenders Boyd Okwuonu and Jordan McRary are both freshman, while senior Matt Hedges is a transfer from Butler, where he was Horizon League defensive player of the year the last two seasons.
Junior Scott Goodwin stands in net for the Tar Heels in his second season as a full-time starter, after a strong season in 2010 when he posted 11 shutouts, second most in the ACC.
“It’s going to be an interesting matchup, our offense against their defense,” Kerr said. “They’re very talented—it will be a good challenge for our guys [but] we’ve recognized a few things we’re going to try and take advantage of.”
For the Blue Devil defense, goalie James Belshaw and defender Sebastien Ibeagha will be back in the lineup after sitting out Tuesday’s game. Belshaw was rested to give Jan Trnka-Amrhein a chance in goal, while Ibeagha was given a break to avoid picking up an additional yellow card, of which he already has four on the season.
Beyond the typical pressure of the Duke-North Carolina rivalry, the game is being hyped up by the home school in an attempt to “Fill Fetzer” with a record crowd for a Tar Heel-home soccer match. The large crowd will be expecting a win, considering North Carolina has triumphed in its last five matches against its Tobacco Road rivals.
“We’ve explained to them it’s going to be a massive crowd,” Kerr said. “It could really catapult us through the biggest part of our season going forward…. Can we prove to people out there that we are for real, that we want to make a difference and that we can compete at the highest level?”
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