No. 7 North Carolina made the biggest plays when the game tightened up Thursday night, scoring three times in the final 20 minutes to beat No. 2 Duke, 4-2, at Dorrance Field in Chapel Hill.
The Blue Devils had grabbed a 2-1 lead early in the second half, but the Tar Heels kept coming and flipped the match with goals in the 71st, 74th and 89th minutes. North Carolina improved to 8-1-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the ACC, while Duke fell to 6-1-1 and 1-1-0.
Duke had actually started to find its footing after North Carolina controlled much of the opening stretch. The Tar Heels broke through first in the 31st minute when Lilliah Blum picked off a pass, drove into the box and finished past Duke goalkeeper Molly Vapensky for a 1-0 lead.
The Blue Devils answered before halftime. Jocelyn Travers took Duke’s first shot at the 31:28 mark, forcing a save from UNC keeper Peyton Trayer, and then Rylee McLanahan leveled things at 41:06. After North Carolina failed to clear the box, McLanahan settled the ball, took a touch left and finished with her left foot into the bottom right corner for her first collegiate goal.
By halftime, Duke had just two shots, matching a season low, while UNC had five.
The Blue Devils came out sharper after the break and were rewarded almost immediately. Daya King sent a strong pass down the left side to Katie Shea Collins, whose cross created a handball situation on a Tar Heel. Duke got the penalty, and Mia Minestrella buried it into the top left corner at 48:48 to put the Blue Devils ahead 2-1.
That lead didn’t last.
Blum struck again at 70:48 to tie the game, and less than three minutes later Izzi Stratton scored off a corner kick to put North Carolina back in front, 3-2. From there, the Tar Heels kept Duke at arm’s length. Cameron Roller later fed a long ball to Collins, whose right-footed try in the box was stopped by Trayer in the 75th minute, and Travers nearly pulled Duke even at 85:04 when her shot from the top of the box hit the crossbar.
North Carolina sealed it with 1:40 left when Shaela Bradley scored the fourth goal.
Blum finished with two goals for UNC, while McLanahan and Minestrella scored for Duke. Minestrella extended her scoring run to six straight games and has scored in 11 of the last 13 contests dating back to last year. She also reached 40 career goals, moving into a tie for second on Duke’s all-time goals list with Casey McCluskey and into third on the program’s all-time points list with 96.
The loss snapped Duke’s three-match regular-season winning streak in the series against UNC. The Blue Devils also allowed a goal in the first half for the first time this season, and the four goals conceded were a season high. North Carolina finished with a 10-6 edge in shots and a 10-1 advantage in corner kicks.
In Other News...
Jon Scheyer Still Wants One Kind Of Player At Duke
Jon Scheyers recruiting pitch at Duke still starts with more than size, skill or rankings. He wants players who come in with a strong support system and the independence to handle life on their own, a standard that continues the programs long-running emphasis on who a player is off the court as much as what he can do on it. Families remain part of that process, and Scheyer is carrying forward a familiar Duke approach: build the roster around people who are ready for the demands that come with the job.
For Scheyer, the point is not to find players who have never been challenged. It is to bring in players who can deal with setbacks, learn from them and keep moving, because Duke is not a place where the hard parts of a basketball career disappear. That standard matters even more for the Blue Devils as they keep chasing elite talent, since the program wants prospects who can thrive in the spotlight and still be prepared for whatever comes after the game. [Read more 🡒]
Duke May Already Have An In-State Recruiting Battle To Watch
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Duggins is the kind of in-state name the Blue Devils cannot ignore for long, even if Duke has not officially moved into sophomore recruiting mode yet. The mutual interest is there, and that alone makes this one worth tracking, especially with a player who sits atop the North Carolina rankings in the 2029 class and is drawing attention well beyond the state border. [Read more 🡒]
Duke Could Get One Boost While Facing A Secondary Concern
Dukes first availability report for the Stanford game offered a little bit of good news and a little bit of concern. Wide receiver Javen Nicholas is listed as probable, giving the Blue Devils a chance to add a fresh option on offense after he sat out the first two games, while safety DaShawn Stone appears on the questionable list as the defense prepares for a matchup that already figures to demand plenty of attention.
The contrasting outlooks fit a week in which Manny Diaz has spent time addressing both Stanfords quarterback and the problems the Cardinal can create defensively. Nicholas potentially becoming available would give Duke another body to work with in the passing game, but Stones status leaves some uncertainty in the secondary, a spot the Blue Devils would prefer to have settled before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]