By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Playing with impressive fight to easily overcome missing five starters, No. 7 North Carolina shot down No. 2 Duke’s unbeaten run.
The Blue Devils, coming off a blowout of a then-No. 1 Stanford that was without six players at the U-20 World Cup, couldn’t take advantage of a short-handed Tar Heels team.
Senior forward Lilliah Blum notched a brace and an assist as UNC rallied from a one-goal second-half deficit to earn a 4–2 victory on a humid Thursday evening at Dorrance Field before a lively crowd of 6,891, one of the largest in program history.
UNC coach Damon Nahas pointed to the entire roster, starters and reserves alike, when asked what the win said about his team’s depth with five regulars out of the lineup.
“It’s not about whether you’re a starter or not a starter. You got to have the belief, and you have to train like you’re prepared to be a starter,” said Nahas, who began his remarks with a big shoutout to the crowd. “Tonight was on display at a whole different level.”
The Tar Heels (8–1, 2–0 ACC) matched the total number of goals Duke (6–1–1, 1–1) had given up in its first seven games. They have reinforcements on the way, as defenders Aven Alvarez and Hope Munson and forward Sealy Strawn arrived back from the U-20 World Cup in Poland late Thursday night.
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Defensively, Carolina limited Duke to six shots and a single corner kick against an attack that includes forward Mia Minestrella (9 goals, 2 assists), Katie Shea Collins (6 goals, 4 assists), and Avery Oder (5 goals, 4 assists), but only Minestrella managed a goal from that core group.
Nahas said the winning approach required his team to adjust on the fly.
“When you don’t have certain starters, you trust the players that are going to play, but they might have to do it in a different way, because we can’t replace this player in the same capacity,” Nahas said. “It was a balance of being aggressive and being patient at the same time.”
Duke coach Kieran Hall said his team’s usual sharpness with the ball was missing on the night.
“They really stifled what we tried to do. I feel like we were making poor decisions with the ball that were pretty uncharacteristic of us,” Hall said. “The decision-making wasn’t what it normally was. It’s tough right now because we know we could do better.”
UNC was the aggressor in the first 30 minutes. The Heels got a midfield steal and a drive to the goal, but Amari Manning narrowly missed in the 8th minute. Duke goaltender Molly Vapensky saved a laser from Bella Devey in the 25th minute.
In the 31st minute, UNC broke through on a counterattack after an unsuccessful Duke clear, the first time an opponent has scored in the first half on the Blue Devils this season. Vapensky charged toward Blum, who fired it to Vapensky’s right and in the goal.
Blum said the goals came from a simple mindset she carried into the match.
“Damon always tells me, you need to believe in yourself and be confident and go forward,” Blum said. “So, I was just thinking, go at them, and I just knew every loose ball I had to go to in the middle.”
Eleven minutes later, Duke, which had no players in the World Cup, made UNC pay when it couldn’t clear the ball. Forward Rylee McLanahan slipped it by UNC goaltender Peyton Trayer to tie it, becoming the eighth Duke freshman to score on Carolina. The goal stood after a lengthy review triggered by a Carolina challenge.
Manning showed off her speed again, breaking loose in transition on a pass from Blum, but was wide left on a shot in the final minute of the first half.
“It was really calm,” Nahas said of the team’s mood at halftime. “I couldn’t have been any prouder of the group. That was a reminder of, hey, we’re going to be on the front foot. Everything we asked, they did.”
Duke took its first lead, 2–1, when Minestrella fired a penalty shot in the 49th minute to the left of Trayer, who got her fingertips on it.
Blum said the second-half deficit didn’t reduce the Tar Heels’ resolve.
“The whole talk was we have so much more time. We’re gonna get another one,” Blum said. “I think everyone has full belief in each one of us, no matter if we’re missing players. It’s gonna happen all year, and we all knew that going in.”
UNC stormed back with two goals in 115 seconds to take a 3–2 lead.
Blum took a pass from junior Shaela Bradley and got the equalizer in the 71st minute for her fourth goal, scooting a shot just to the right of Vapensky’s outstretched hands.
In the 74th minute, center back Izzi Stratton got stopped on an initial chance, then poked the ball in the goal amid a wild scramble in front of the goal. Stratton, a BYU transfer who is in her second season back from a 16-month Mormon church mission that pulled her away from soccer, credited her teammates for setting up the play.
“I just saw the ball loose and then just put my leg on it,” Stratton said. “But credit to Wylie [Roossien] and Amari — they were playing absolutely perfect crosses the whole game, and so they made our job easy.”
After Duke defender Jocelyn Travers just missed tying it with a shot in the 85th minute off the crossbar, Bradley added the exclamation mark in the 89th minute. She scored on a transition drive off a Blum pass.
Bradley, who is still working her way back from an ACL injury, had not looked to shoot much during the match before that moment.
“I didn’t really shoot all game that I should have, so I was like, I might as well,” Bradley said. “It’s probably going to be my last shot at the game, and I just put everything behind it, especially since I’m coming off an ACL from last year.”
UNC was without its points leader, graduate forward Summer Denigan, who tweaked a groin in Sunday’s win over NJIT. Nahas said she’s day-to-day. Roossien, a freshman forward, made her first career start in Denigan’s place and was one of four midfielders in the 3–4–2–1 setup with forward Devey up front.
Carolina freshman midfielder Scottie Antonucci missed her third consecutive match recovering from a strained right knee. She is no longer wearing a brace, but Nahas said that she’ll still miss more matches.
Notes
— Carolina goes outside the league on Sunday at 1 p.m. to face Alcorn State (3–3–1), an HSBU out of the SWAC in the first meeting between the programs. The Braves enter the game on a three-game unbeaten streak after a 3–3 draw at Troy on Sunday.
— The USA team in the U20 Women’s World Cup lost in a shootout to Brazil in the round of 16 Wednesday, although Alvarez converted in the shootout. In a 9–0 pool-play game on Saturday, Strawn had a goal and Munson had two assists.
— UNC extended its lead in the all-time series with Duke to 46–7–5, including 17–5–1 in Chapel Hill.
No. 7 UNC 4, No. 2 Duke 2
ACC standings
| Team | Points | ACC | All |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Wake Forest | 6 | 2–0–0 | 9–0–9 |
| No. 7 North Carolina | 6 | 2–0–0 | 8–1–0 |
| Louisville | 6 | 2–0–0 | 8–1–0 |
| N.C. State | 4 | 1–0–1 | 8–0–2 |
| Boston College | 3 | 1–0–0 | 8–0–0 |
| Virginia Tech | 3 | 1–0–0 | 5–1–3 |
| No. 17 Notre Dame | 3 | 1–0–0 | 3–0–5 |
| No. 2 Duke | 3 | 1–1–0 | 6–1–1 |
| No. 13 Virginia | 3 | 1–1–0 | 5–1–2 |
| Miami | 3 | 1–1–0 | 6–2–1 |
| Clemson | 3 | 1–1–0 | 5–2–2 |
| No. 21 Florida State | 1 | 0–0–1 | 4–1–2 |
| No. 6 Stanford | 0 | 0–2–0 | 6–2–1 |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0–2–0 | 6–3–1 |
| SMU | 0 | 0–2–0 | 5–3–2 |
| Syracuse | 0 | 0–2–0 | 3–4–2 |
| California | 0 | 0–2–0 | 2–4–3 |
Thursday’s results
No. 7 North Carolina 4, No. 2 Duke 2
No. 3 Wake Forest 3, California 1
Louisville 1, No. 6 Stanford 0
N.C. State 4, SMU 2
Clemson 2, Syrause 0
Virginia Tech 2, Pittsburgh 1
No. 13 Virginia 3, Miami 0
Friday’s game
Boston College at No. 17 Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Virginia Tech at Syracuse, noon
Alcorn State at No. 7 North Carolina, 1 p.m.
Miami at N.C. State, 1 p.m.
No. 3 Wake Forest at No. 5 Stanford, 4 p.m.
Louisville at California, 4 p.m.
| 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 | W, 4–2 | vs. No. 2 Duke | 8–1, 2–0 |
| 20 | Sunday | 1 p.m. | vs. Alcorn State | ACCNE |
| 25 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 13 Virginia | ACCNE |
| October | ||||
| 2 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ACCN |
| 9 | Friday | 7 p.m. | at No. 21 Florida State | ESPNU |
| 15 | Thursday | 8 p.m. | at Clemson | ACCN |
| 18 | Sunday | 3:30 | at No. 3 Wake Forest | ACCN |
| 23 | Friday | 6 p.m. | vs. No. 6 Stanford | ACCN |
| 29 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCNE |
| November | ||||
| 5 | Thursday | 7 p.m. | at Louisville | ACCNE |
| 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 by Jackson Gerding
