It took extra time and a decisive overtime goal, but Duke finally edged a ranked opponent for the first time in more than two weeks.
Senior attack Jordan Wolf found the back of the net with 2:34 to play in overtime, propelling the No. 6 Blue Devils to a 9-8 victory against No. 4 North Carolina Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
Wolf took possession of the ball and ran behind the net, breaking away from Tar Heel defenders, and slid the ball past goalie Kieran Burke for the game-winner.
“The Carolina game is so much fun,” Duke head coach John Danowski said. “Obviously there is a big crowd, and you are playing a great opponent who is extremely well coached and very talented. We respect Coach Breschi and his staff and his players. It was a great college event."
With 2:00 to go in regulation, Duke (6-2, 1-1 ACC) trailed 8-7, but junior attack Kyle Keenan scored his third goal of the game to knot the score at eight. Keenan registered the first hat trick of his career, scoring on three of his four shots on the afternoon.
The Blue Devils had a chance to score in the final seconds of regulation, taking back-to-back timeouts to try to set up a scoring play, but the North Carolina defense held its ground and denied the Duke offense a go-ahead goal.
In overtime, Brendan Fowler, who struggled at the faceoff X in the first half, won a crucial draw to give the Blue Devils possession of the ball to open overtime. Minutes later Wolf knocked in the game-winner.
After the Tar Heels (5-2, 0-2 ACC) got off to a hot start, scoring three goals by the opening minutes of the second period, Duke battled back with two goals in the final three minutes of the half. Wolf and Keenan each scored, foreshadowing a strong finish by the duo two quarters later.
In the second half, Blue Devil Deemer Class assisted Case Matheis 44 seconds into the half, which put Duke up 4-3. But North Carolina dominated the rest of the quarter, entering the final 15 minutes building on a 7-5 lead.
“Their faceoff guy did a terrific job,” Danowski said. “He was dynamic and athletic, and we saw that on tape and thought he was terrific. Their good players played really well.”
But the Tar Heels managed just one fourth quarter goal, allowing the Blue Devils to climb back into the game behind an offensive push that would eventually tie the score with Keenan’s third goal.
Duke goalie Luke Aaron notched 15 saves against 46 total shots and was a major factor in the fourth-quarter defensive stand. Aaron has been battling fellow goalie Kyle Turri for playing time, but Danowski elected to keep Aaron between the pipes the whole game.
"It was 1-1 at the quarter and 3-3 at the half,” Danowski said. “You are only giving up one goal in 15 minutes and then two goals in another 15 minutes. It just made a lot of sense to stay with Luke."
After suffering back-to-back losses to top five opponents No. 3 Maryland and No. 5 Loyola earlier in the season, the once top-ranked Blue Devils have now proven that they can knock off one of the nation’s top teams.
Duke will face another test Sunday when it plays ACC-newcomer No. 10 Syracuse for a rematch of last season’s NCAA championship game. Their ACC experience gives the Blue Devils added confidence going into next week’s matchup, but the team is still taking each game in stride.
“I think we keep our nose down,” Danowski said. “We don't really think globally yet. We are just trying to get better, and trying to find yourself as a team. Find out where you are going to get goals from, who is going to make saves, who your starting defense is. It is always a work in progress.”
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