In a must-win rivalry game for Duke on Senior Day with its NCAA tournament hopes hanging in the balance, most expected the Blue Devils to come out as the more desperate squad.
However, it was just the opposite, as Duke's Tobacco Road rival ran away with one of the home team's final shots at landing an all-important upset victory.
On the strength of a 6-0 run spanning seven minutes in the first half, No. 4 North Carolina pulled away from the Blue Devils 19-7 in dominant fashion for its sixth straight victory in the rivalry at Koskinen Stadium Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Duke remains on the bubble for the 26-team NCAA tournament and likely needs to upset the Tar Heels in the ACC tournament Thursday to secure its place in the Big Dance for a 20th straight year.
“We were getting beat on easy stuff. Clearly, they’re a veteran team offensively, they are capable of playing at that level,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “If you make simple mistakes, they’re going to make you pay for it.”
After registering a season-high 20 goal output their last time out against Presbyterian, the Blue Devils (8-8, 1-6 in the ACC) went cold offensively in the deciding seven-minute sequence in the opening period, when the Tar Heels turned a 3-3 tie into a 9-3 lead. After Duke responded with two goals to make it a 10-5 game, North Carolina churned out eight straight tallies bridging the two halves to all but secure the victory.
The Tar Heels (13-2, 6-1) bested the Blue Devils in nearly every statistical category, including the one that Duke typically dominates—draw controls. North Carolina countered Duke’s faceoff expert Olivia Jenner, who entered the contest ranked 10th in the nation in draw controls per game, with All-American midfielder Sammy Jo Tracy, who won 11 faceoffs to bring her total to 119 this season.
With offensive possession after offensive possession, North Carolina got to Blue Devil starting goalkeeper Gabbe Cadoux early and often, utilizing a quick-strike attack to torch Duke’s man-to-man defensive scheme. Cadoux endured her worst game between the pipes— saving only eight of 27 shots on goal—as Tar Heel All-American attack Molly Hendrick set a career-high with seven goals on the afternoon.
After tallying only three goals in just less than 15 minutes to start off the game, the Tar Heels changed their offensive strategy. Instead of slowing up the pace to control possession offensively, North Carolina ran off the draw, taking advantage of odd-man rushes that left Cadoux out to dry as seven Tar Heels finished with at least two points on the day.
“We struggled to maintain our composure and do the simple parts of our gameplan that we had really wanted to execute,” Kimel said. “We definitely made it tough on Gabbe today. She saw a lot of shots that were uncontested, and it was just a tough day for our defense overall.”
The offense’s cold streak did not help ease the pressure on the Duke defense either.
After knotting the game at three with junior Maddie Crutchfield’s second goal of the afternoon, the Blue Devils scored only two goals in a 35-minute span as North Carolina goalkeeper Caylee Waters buckled down, especially on free-position opportunities. After converting on 5-of-7 chances from the eight-meter mark against then-No. 18 Northwestern last weekend, Duke failed to score on another seven opportunities against Waters, who finished with 13 saves.
“[Waters is] a very good goalkeeper and we didn’t put the ball in some good spots,” Kimel said. “We made the saves easy for her at times.”
The loss dropped Duke to the bottom seed for the eight-team ACC tournament in Richmond, Va., where it will face top-seeded North Carolina in a rematch that may decide the rest of the Blue Devils’ postseason fate. To avoid its worst season in two decades, Duke will need to reverse the outcome Thursday by making adjustments across the board.
“We have to find a way to regroup…. All of our teams at different times throughout the course of the season in the ACC have been vulnerable,” Kimel said. “Our kids need a day to physically, mentally and emotionally regroup after Senior Day and then get their studies in order. Once we get on the bus Tuesday, it will be a lot easier for us to get focused for the ACCs.”
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