The North Carolina women's soccer team is known for making history. And in the Tar Heels' ACC clash with Duke on Friday, they did no different.
While UNC has often found itself on the right side of history more times than not, Friday saw No. 7 North Carolina in a unique position. With a 1-0 loss to Duke, the Tar Heels have now lost three games in a row for only the second time during the program's 37-year history.
Perhaps UNC's best chance to score in the first half came in the 28th minute. After finding sophomore forward Jessie Scarpa on a pass, senior midfielder Katie Bowen slipped in behind the Blue Devils' defense. Scarpa flipped the ball over the head of two defenders, but it fell just out of Bowen's reach and into the keeper's arms.
Duke (8-4-4, 2-2-3 ACC) fired back less than four minutes later with some solid attacking play of its own, as Blue Devil forward Kayla McCoy found space in between two defenders and rifled a left-footed shot toward goal. But her chance was thwarted by Tar Heel goalkeeper Bryane Heaberlain, and the game remained scoreless.
It was a first half mostly devoid of scoring chances, but in the 44th minute, the Blue Devils broke through. After receiving the ball on a long pass from midfielder Ashton Miller, forward Imani Dorsey struck a shot over Heaberlin's head and into the back of the net.
Dorsey's goal marked the first time Duke had scored a goal against North Carolina (11-3-1, 4-3-0 ACC) since 2010, and the first time the Blue Devils had led the Tar Heels since 2005.
As the second half opened, Duke seemed to maintain the momentum it acquired from its first-half goal.
After 10 minutes of back-and-forth play to start the second 45, Blue Devil freshman midfielder Taylor Racioppi made her way into the UNC box and uncorked a shot from about 10 yards out. The ball moved past the Tar Heels' keeper and careened off of the post, inches away from doubling the Blue Devils' lead.
Over the next 30 minutes, North Carolina ramped up the pressure, but never could quite string together enough passes to consistently challenge the Duke back line.
