'You get punished': The 49 seconds that defined UNC women's soccer's loss to No. 1 Duke

The game was in the balance. After going down two goals early in the second half, North Carolina had gotten one back and trailed 2-1 in the 66th minute. 

Sophomore forward Olivia Thomas, who scored the UNC goal, found herself isolated on the right wing. She cut into the box on her left foot. She carved out a yard of space for a shot. It drifted just wide of the far post.

So close. It was right there. 

Less than a minute later, Duke ramped up its high press. North Carolina lost possession in its own half, and former Tar Heel Mia Oliaro was away down the right flank. She played a high-arcing cross into the six-yard box. Midfielder Maggie Graham knifed into the area and finished with a thundering header from close range.

From 2-1 to 3-1 in a flash.

Those 49 seconds defined No. 1 Duke’s 3-2 victory over No. 8 North Carolina in the regular-season finale on Thursday night at Dorrance Field. The Tar Heels have suffered two consecutive losses for the first time this season following a 4-2 defeat at Florida State. The result also marks the first time Duke has beaten UNC twice in the same season, and the first time that the Tar Heels have lost in back-to-back regular season games since 2018. 

“You can’t take a play off,” interim head coach Damon Nahas said. “Every little angle, every little decision, every decision that you make, has to be spot on against really good teams. When you don’t, you get punished for it. There’s lessons in that.”

North Carolina made a mistake in the 67th minute, and the Blue Devils made the Tar Heels pay for it.

The turnover left UNC exposed and out of its defensive shape. When the ball came in from Oliaro, graduate goalkeeper Clare Gagne stayed on her line, and first-year defender Caitlan Mara marked the attacker at the near post.

First-year defender Aven Alvarez was caught in between at the back post. While Alvarez was worried about the player behind her, Graham threaded the needle in front of her unmarked for the free header. 

“We were marking space, not man,” Nahas said. “And that will burn.”

A poor goal to concede at the worst time. 

After Graham rippled the back of the net, Gagne, Alvarez, Mara, junior defender Tessa Dellarose and graduate midfielder Aria Nagai came together in the box. They displayed their frustrations, pointing and gesticulating, trying to figure out what had just happened.

“It’s just the communication,” Nahas said. “That’s the good thing on film to hopefully learn for the next time that’s presented itself that we can deal with it.”

But even after the calamity at the back, UNC did not go quietly. 

In the 88th minute, the score still 3-1, the ball found junior forward Maddie Dahlien on the left after a scramble in front of goal. She played a cross over the top of the Duke defense. Junior forward Kate Faasse snuck in at the back post and headed home.

The Tar Heels pushed for an equalizer in the final minutes but couldn’t find one. Dellarose and Faasse hugged at full time before bending over, hands on knees, out of breath.

North Carolina will take lessons from the loss and regroup ahead of the first round of the ACC tournament on Sunday.

“We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves or be too down,” Nahas said. “Disappointment’s natural anytime you lose, whether you lose to Duke or you lose to anyone else. They’re competitors. But what they can sit back and understand is that they died until the end. That to me is a win.

“Nobody is gonna want to play us.”

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