UNC women's soccer falls to Duke, 1-0, on the road for the first time in program history

DURHAM — For the first time in program history, the No. 2 UNC women’s soccer team (6-1) fell, 1-0, to the Duke Blue Devils (3-1) at Koskinen Stadium in Durham. 

Before Thursday night's game, North Carolina had never lost in Durham. In 1999 — the last time the Tar Heels found themselves in a deficit against the Blue Devils after the first period in Koskinen Stadium — UNC came back from being down 2-0 and prevailed in the second half. But during interim head coach Damon Nahas' first rivalry game against the Blue Devils following longtime head coach Anson Dorrance's retirement, North Carolina failed to keep this streak alive. This marks Nahas' first loss as a head coach.  

"We could talk about history," Nahas said. "If you get so caught up in history, then you lose track of where you're trying to go."

To open the match, the Tar Heels struggled to find a rhythm, which allowed the Blue Devils to control possession. 

As North Carolina failed to force the ball onto Duke’s side, the Blue Devils put two shot attempts on the board in the first 10 minutes. 

In the fifth minute, Duke’s Ella Hase worked to ignite the offense with a shot into the top right corner of the net. The ball fell right into the hands of graduate goalkeeper Clare Gagne.

Around four minutes later, transfer midfielder and former Tar Heel Mia Oliaro worked to place a ball in the bottom right corner, but the effort met a similar fate with Gagne. 

In the 16th minute, the Tar Heels recorded their first shot when senior midfielder Bella Sember attempted a goal from the right outside of the box. 

Eventually, UNC settled into a rhythm and the two squads went back and forth until Duke struck in the last minute of play in the first period. 

After receiving a pass from forward Mia Minestrella, midfielder Maggie Graham broke away from a UNC defender in the box as Gagne came out of the net to try and secure the ball. But as Gagne ran toward Graham, the dark blue-clad player shot the ball into the left side of the net with 38 seconds on the clock.

"I feel for the girls because the goal that we gave up I think we could eliminate," Nahas said. "And once you do that on their home field, you're kind of chasing it."

Entering the second half, the Blue Devils led 1-0. Throughout the last 45 minutes, Duke outshot UNC 6-3. 

In the first 10 minutes, Duke played with the same force they started the match with. The Blue Devils attempted four shots while holding the Tar Heels to zero. 

North Carolina failed to record its first shot in the second period until the 75th minute.

And as the clock winded down, this same pattern continued. The Blue Devils completely controlled possession, rarely giving UNC the opportunity to find the equalizer. The Tar Heels only recorded two more unsuccessful shots in the period. 

"For [a] young group, it's [about] reminding them, not painting a wrong picture for them," Nahas said. "Our expectations and standards are always going to be high and it doesn't change whether you or whether you win the game. If we would have won the game, there would have been valuable lessons in that as well."

North Carolina will return to Dorrance Field on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Columbia. 

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