Upcoming Event: Men's Soccer versus Elon on October 7, 2025 at 7 p.m.
Men's Soccer
vs Elon
Friday, September 25
Chapel Hill, N.C.
7:00 PM
Duke University
1
at
2
North Carolina
Duke Falls to Second-Ranked North Carolina, 2-1
9/26/2015 10:44:00 PM | Men's Soccer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- For the eighth straight meeting, Saturday's match at Fetzer Field between Duke and No. 2 North Carolina was decided by a goal or less, as the Blue Devils fell to the Tar Heels, 2-1, at Fetzer Field. Playing in rainy conditions for a majority of the match, the Tar Heels tallied the first two goals of the game before senior Zach Mathers found the back of the net early in the second half to account for Duke's lone score.
Duke falls to 4-3-1 overall and 0-2-1 in ACC play, while North Carolina remains undefeated with an 8-0-1 record and a 3-0-0 mark in conference action.
"They're a good team,” head coach John Kerr said. “I thought it was a great game considering the conditions. [It was] great for the fans and [North Carolina] was sharp tonight. They were very good.”
Sophomore Brian White kicked off the offense for both teams, firing a shot and forcing a North Carolina save in the opening minutes. The Tar Heels retaliated quickly as Alex Olofson used a one touch off a cross to send it underneath Duke goalkeeper Wilson Fisher in the third minute to put the home team on the board first.
After the opening goal, both defenses settled in. The majority of the first half was played in the midfield, with North Carolina holding the slight shot advantage in the opening stanza, 8-3. Duke was unable to take advantage of a number of corner kicks and a short free kick just outside the box as the score held steady at 1-0 heading into the break.
Reminiscent of the first half, the Tar Heels tacked on their second goal of the game in the 48th minute. North Carolina's Alan Winn sped past the Duke back line and received a perfect ball from Zach Wright to push their advantage to 2-0. Ten minutes later, Mathers took it upon himself to cut the deficit in half. With the ball on the left side from roughly thirty yards out, the senior captain ricocheted a shot off the far post to tally Duke's lone goal in the 48th minute of the game and his second of the season. Mathers led the offense on the day with four shots to go along with his score.
“We had some momentum,” Kerr said. “I think we had some momentum in the middle of the first half. After we went behind and started chasing the game, we got a lot of the ball and a lot of possession and created some openings. We were hoping to come into halftime at 1-1 at least, but we had some good opportunities and weren't able to put them away … We were good in phases in each half and maybe struggled in phases in each half.”
The Blue Devils had a number of chances down the stretch to draw even but couldn't capitalize. With the final minutes winding down, Duke mounted its best attacks of the night. With 2:20 to play, Mathers took a free kick from just outside the box that sailed high, then a minute later blasted another that went wide. With 30 seconds left on the clock, senior Ryan Thompson put one on a goal, but a timely save from the Tar Heels ended Duke's hopes of overtime.
Duke is back in action this Tuesday, Sept. 29 as they take on Davidson on the road. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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Players Mentioned
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