No. 1 Duke Sweeps No. 8 North Carolina, 3-2, in Regular Season Finale

Thursday, October 31

Chapel Hill, NC

7 p.m.

Duke University

14-1-1, 9-0-1

North Carolina

14-4-0, 7-3-0

Duke

North Carolina

Photo by: Andy Mead

No. 1 Duke Sweeps No. 8 North Carolina, 3-2, in Regular Season Finale

10/31/2024 10:24:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Graham & Bebar Interview Church Interview

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For the first time in program history, the top-ranked Duke women's soccer team swept eighth-ranked North Carolina in the regular season as the Blue Devils registered a 3-2 victory on the road at Dorrence Field in Chapel Hill on Thursday evening.

Duke finished the regular season with a 14-1-1 overall and 9-0-1 ACC ledger, marking just the third undefeated ACC slate in Duke lore (1994, 2017 and 2024). The Blue Devils totaled their fourth win this year against a top 10 opponent, including second in a row.

A pair of graduate students – Hannah Bebar and Maggie Graham – collected goals on the evening for the Blue Devils, including Bebar's first brace as a Blue Devil. Graham collected her fourth game-winning tally of the year and seventh of her Duke career.

How It Happened

The Blue Devils opened the match taking the first three shots over the first 7:29, including two off the leg of sophomore Mia Oliaro.
On Duke's fifth shot of the match, the Blue Devils struck first as fifth year Ella Hase made a great run down the left side of the pitch and crossed a ball in front of the goal.North Carolina cleared a ball away from the box to Duke graduate student Hannah Bebar.Bebar, who hails from Naperville, Ill., faked right, went left and blasted a left-footed shot inside the right post from 29 yards out to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead.
In the 31st minute, North Carolina had a good opportunity as Olivia Thomas ran past the Duke defense, but Blue Devil fifth year goalkeeper Leah Freeman made a diving stop to her left to keep the Tar Heels off the board.
At the end of the first half, Duke held a 6-2 shot advantage.The two shots for the Tar Heels were the second-fewest in the first half this season (Wake Forest).
Duke went ahead 2-0 at the 49:50 mark as North Carolina was tagged with a handball in the box.Bebar stepped up and buried the goal in the back of the net.
The Tar Heels came back and had a shot off the crossbar in the 54th minute and then cut into the Blue Devil lead as Thomas snuck a shot inside the right post at the 54:27 mark to make the score, 2-1.
Duke continued to play outstanding in the midfield and swiped a UNC pass in the 67th minute.Junior Carina Lageyre found a streaking Oliaro on the right side, who crossed in a beautiful right-footed pass in front of the goal where fifth year Maggie Graham was there to head in her team-best 10th goal of the season.Duke went ahead, 3-1, with just over 20 minutes remaining.
North Carolina put pressure on the Blue Devils late and added a goal at the 87:05 mark as Kate Faasse headed in a ball from Maddie Dahlien to cut the lead to 3-2.
For the match, North Carolina outshot the Blue Devils, 12-10, and Duke was limited to only four second half attempts.

Notes

Hannah Bebar totaled her second and third goal of the season and 19th and 20th of her collegiate career. It marked the first goals as a Blue Devil in ACC play.
Bebar collected her fifth career brace and the first as a Blue Devil.

Duke has now scored a goal in the first half in 14 of the 16 matches played this season.
The Blue Devils have scored two or more goals in 12 consecutive contests.
Maggie Graham collected her second goal of the season against the Tar Heels and 18th of her Duke career.
Graham registered her seventh goal in ACC regular season play, which is tied for the third-most in Duke history.
Mia Oliaro extended her consecutive games with a goal or assist to nine, which tied a Duke school record (Casey McCluskey, 1994 with 9).
Oliaro's one assist in the match gave her 21 points in ACC regular season action, which is a new school record passing Michelle Cooper (2022 with 22).Her nine assists extended her school record to nine.
Oliaro owns a team-high 11 assists on the season and a tied for team-best 25 points.
The three goals scored by Duke matched a school record against North Carolina in the all-time series (54 meetings).The Blue Devils scored three goals on Oct. 19, 1994 in Chapel Hill and on Oct. 28, 2010 in Durham.
Duke collected its fourth win this season against a top-10 opponent, including two on the road in back-to-back contests.
The Blue Devils improved to 2-4 all-time on Halloween night.
Duke notched nine ACC victories for only the second time in Duke history (2017).
The win marked the sixth all-time against North Carolina and the fifth in Chapel Hill.
It is the first time in UNC history the Tar Heels have lost twice to the same team in a regular season and the fifth time overall, including postseason (FSU three times, UCLA once).

Quotes

"Really special.The Carolina rivalry is like nothing else and to have the game-winner in both is something special -- Duke graduate student Maggie Graham on notching the game-winner against UNC in both games this season
"The win over obviously with Carolina is phenomenal.To get two wins over this storied program and they are a really, really good team.Just for us to play like we did, as hard as we did.We just came off Notre Dame, Wake Forest and North Carolina in a seven-day period and that's unbelievable.I have never experienced quality teams like that and you could see our legs going away in the second half.It was a heart of champions.They played absolutely so hard and were determined." -- Duke head coach Robbie Church

Next Match

Duke will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming ACC Championship.The Blue Devils received a bye in the quarterfinals and will next play at either 5:30 p.m., or 8 p.m., on Nov. 7 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.Duke's opponent will be decided after the quarterfinal matches on Sunday, Nov. 3 take place at host sites.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".

Duke Centennial
In 2024, Duke celebrates its Centennial, marking one hundred years since Trinity College became Duke University. Duke will use this historic milestone to deepen the understanding of its history, inspire pride and strengthen bonds and partnerships, and prepare for a second century of continued excellence and impactful leadership. To learn more, please visit 100.duke.edu

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