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No. 1 Duke defeats No. 8 North Carolina in ACC top 10 women’s soccer rivalry

Posted on by Pranco
No. 1 Duke defeats No. 8 North Carolina in ACC top 10 women’s soccer rivalry

This Halloween night match will feature two teams from two different extremes. Duke (13-1-1) just captured the ACC regular season title for the first time since 2017 with a 2-0 win over then No. 2 Wakebos. And earlier in the season, the Blue Devils claimed their first-ever home victory over the Tar Heels (1-0) in program history.

North Carolina (14-3-3), on the other hand, just suffered a 4-2 loss in Tallahassee to the reigning national champion, then No. 17 Florida State, which came a week after a heartbreaking 1-0 loss at Stanford.

Despite the two losses in three games, North Carolina has produced results against several tough opponents. five consecutive weeks at number 1 in the RPI rankings — Duke is consistently ranked a close second. The pair were also neighbors in the region The NCAA Committee’s Top-16 Season Rankings, with the Blue Devils at No. 1 and UNC right behind them. The Tar Heels will need to field a strong back line to hold off Duke’s impressive scoring attack. which currently ranks third in the country in goals per game (3.33).

Although the Blue Devils have already captured the ACC regular season title, earned the No. 1 seed and earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament, the outcome of Thursday’s matchup will decide whether or not North Carolina has a shot at the No. 2 seed and the other first-round bye.

Whatever the stakes, this historic rivalry runs deep and fans can expect a thriller to culminate their Halloween evening.