By R.L. Bynum
No. 7 UNC and No. 3 Duke earned very different 5–0 home women’s soccer victories ahead of their big clash in Chapel Hill on Thursday night.
While Carolina got its win over 3–4–1 NJIT, No. 271 in the Massey Ratings, at Dorrance Field on Sunday, the victory for the Blue Devils (7–0–1) a few miles away in Durham was over No. 1 Stanford for their fifth consecutive victory.
The two old rivals will take 1–0 ACC records into the 8 p.m. match that will air on ACC Network.
UNC (7–1) extended its win streak to four by following a familiar pattern of jumping out to a lead, this time 2–0 in the first 20 minutes.
Sophomore midfielder Riley Kennedy sped toward the net and fired in her first goal as a Tar Heel in the fourth minute, with an assist from Bella Devey.
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Graduate midfielder Summer Denigan made it 2–0 by firing in a penalty kick in the top-left corner of the net in the 20th minute for her seventh goal of the season. Four of those have come on penalty shots.
Freshman midfielder Deus Stanislaus opened the second half with her first career goal in the 50th minute, finishing off a feed from freshman forward Amari Manning, who picked up her second assist of the season.
Freshman forward Leah Kuklick made her long-awaited college debut in the 64th minute after missing the first seven games of the season with an injury. Not long after, junior midfielder Shaela Bradley drew Carolina’s second penalty kick of the afternoon, and Devey made the most of the opportunity (top photo), slotting her first career penalty attempt into the top left corner to push the lead to 4–0, her team-high eighth goal.
Freshman defender Chloe Shroff put an exclamation point on the afternoon in the 89th minute, scoring her first career goal unassisted to make it 5–0 and cap the rout.
Notes
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No. 7 UNC 5, NJIT 0
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent (current rankings) | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | ||||
| 5 | Wednesday | W, 1–0 | vs. South Carolina | Exhib. |
| 13 | Thursday | W, 4–0 | vs. Fairfield | 1–0 |
| 16 | Sunday | W, 8–0 | vs. Quinnipiac | 2–0 |
| 20 | Thursday | W, 2–0 | at Arkansas | 3–0 |
| 23 | Sunday | L, 3–2 | vs. No. 5 Michigan State | 3–1 |
| 28 | Friday | W, 3–0 | at Shelbourne FC | Friendly |
| September | ||||
| 3 | Thursday | W, 2–1 | at Arizona | 4–1 |
| 6 | Sunday | W, 1–0 | at Arizona State | 5–1 |
| 10 | Thursday | W, 3–0 | vs. California | 6–1, 1–0 ACC |
| 13 | Sunday | W, 5–0 | vs. NJIT | 7–1 |
| 17 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | vs. No. 3 Duke | ACCN |
| 20 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Alcorn State | |
| 25 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 10 Virginia | |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ACCN |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 18 Florida State | ESPNU |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at No. 24 Clemson | ACCN |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30 | at No. 3 Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 1 Stanford | ACCN |
| 29 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. SMU | |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Louisville | |
| 8, 12, 15 | Sunday, Thur., Sun. | ACC tournament | Semifinals, final in Cary | |
| NCAA tournament | (first four rounds at campus sites) | |||
| 20-22 | Fri.-Sun | First round | ||
| 26 | Thursday | Second round | ||
| 29 | Sunday | Third round | ||
| December | ||||
| 4, 5 | Fri., Sat. | Quarterfinals | ||
| 10, 13 | Thur., Sun. | Women’s College Cup Cary |
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics Communications
