Carolina heads to Durham on Friday night with plenty on the line and the same old opponent waiting across the field.
The No. 10 Tar Heels make the short trip to Jack Katz Stadium to face No.
6 Duke in the final regular-season rivalry game of the year. It’s the 102nd meeting between the two programs, and UNC owns an 89-12 edge in the series.
A win would give Carolina at least a share of the ACC regular-season title and secure the No. 1 seed for next week’s ACC Tournament in Chapel Hill at Karen Shelton Stadium.
The stakes are clean and simple for the Tar Heels: win, and they lock up the top spot for the fifth straight season. Lose, and they slide to No. 3.
Carolina’s position in the standings is also helped by its goal differential, which would give UNC the tiebreaker over Duke and Wake Forest regardless of what the Demon Deacons do against Louisville. The final Friday of the ACC regular season, as usual, brings a crowded scramble for tournament positioning, with all nine teams in the mix.
This matchup carries the weight of recent history, too. The two teams met three times in a 17-day stretch last year, and Carolina won all three.
The first and last came in Chapel Hill and both went to overtime, ending 2-1. Dani Mendez scored the overtime winner on her Senior Day on Oct. 31, and Sanne Hak delivered the winner in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to send the Heels to their 29th Final Four.
The middle game came in Louisville during the ACC Tournament, where UNC rolled to a 5-2 win behind two goals from Mendez.
Erin Matson has never lost to Duke, and that streak stretches across both sides of her UNC career. She is 15-0 against the Blue Devils as a player and coach combined, with a plus-32 goal differential in those games.
Carolina enters at 10-6 overall and 5-2 in the ACC, while Duke is 12-3 and 6-1 in league play. The Blue Devils are coached by Pam Bustin, who is 200-119 at Duke. Matson is 69-12 in her UNC head coaching career.
A few numbers jump off the page for Carolina. The Heels lead the ACC with 3.44 goals per game, and Reese Anetsberger ranks second in the league with eight assists.
Charly Bruder and Ryleigh Heck are tied for fifth in program history with 74 goals apiece. And in Matson’s time as head coach, UNC has won 86% of its ACC road games, going 12-2.
The Tar Heels are coming off a split weekend. They dropped a tight 4-3 game to No. 10 Wake Forest on Friday, then bounced back Sunday with a 5-0 win over App State in Boone.
Against Wake Forest, Carolina grabbed the lead in the first two minutes and carried a 2-1 advantage into halftime, but the Demon Deacons took control after the break to win in Chapel Hill. It was Wake Forest’s first win there since 2006.
The response came quickly on Sunday. UNC handled App State with a 5-0 shutout, and Anetsberger led the way with two goals and an assist. It was her first collegiate multi-goal game, and the first time she had recorded more than one scoring contribution in a game.
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UNC Freshman Nyqir Helton May Be Forcing His Way Onto The Field
Nyqir Heltons first career start for North Carolina came against Syracuse, and it was earned the old-fashioned way. The true freshman wide receiver got the nod because of what he had shown in practice, not because of an opening created by someone else, a sign that the Tar Heels are beginning to trust him as more than just a long-term project.
Helton has been building toward this moment through steady work in practice, scout team reps and the programs developmental Sunday Night Football sessions, and the payoff was a career-high 67 snaps. For a young receiver trying to carve out a role, that kind of usage says plenty about where he stands right now, even if his path to a permanent spot is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Tar Heels Have One More Home Test With ACC Stakes Rising
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Bella Devey has been the main finishing threat, leading the team with 16 goals, while Peyton Trayer has anchored things in net with 10 wins. With senior-day type emotions and league positioning both in play, this one offers Carolina a chance to close out its home schedule on a strong note before the bigger tests ahead. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Heads Into No. 1 Miami With A Pressure Point Fans Feel
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Miami brings the sort of attack that can expose any hesitation, with Darian Mensah directing the offense and Toney giving the Hurricanes another dangerous target on the outside. North Carolinas defense has already shown some cracks against the run and in the secondary, which makes the challenge even steeper as the Tar Heels try to avoid getting stretched on both sides of the ball. However this one unfolds, it has the feel of a game that could sharpen the conversation around where UNC stands right now and where it goes next. [Read more 🡒]