Oct. 8, 2006

DURHAM, N.C. - Second-ranked North Carolina got goals from three different players and scored two goals 44 seconds apart midway through the second half to pull away from 24th-ranked Duke 3-0 in women's soccer action Sunday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. UNC's defense allowed only four shots and recorded its first shutout of Duke since October 1, 2003.

The win was the 14th in a row for North Carolina and the Tar Heels improved to 14-1 overall and 6-0 in the ACC. Duke, which had a chance to move within a half game of the Tar Heels in the ACC standings with a win, fell to 7-4-1 and 3-2 in the ACC.

The win avenged a 2-1 regular-season loss the Tar Heels suffered to Duke a year ago at Fetzer Field. Tar Heels have won six of their last seven meetings with the Blue Devils but Duke had scored at least one goal against the Heels in the past five matchups prior to Sunday's encounter.

Sunday's match was worth one point in the 2006-07 Carlyle Cup competition standings. Sponsored by Carlyle & Company, the Carlyle Cup is awarded each year to the winner of the all-sports competition between Carolina and Duke. The 26-point formula weights each sport as one point with the exception of football, men's basketball and women's basketball which are worth two points each. Carolina's point Sunday cut Duke's lead this year to 1.5 points to 1 point. Each school has won the Carlyle Cup three times with UNC winning the past two years.

Neither team produced a lot of shots in Sunday's match but the Tar Heels were quite efficient at finishing their chances. UNC had 11 shots overall and Duke had four. The Tar Heel goals came from Yael Averbuch, Whitney Engen and Tobin Heath. In a pair of wins this week - 2-0 at No. 16 Virginia and 3-0 at No. 24 Duke - the Tar Heels outscored their ACC opponents 5-0 with four of UNC's five goals being scored by freshmen.

Carolina's first goal Sunday came off the foot of sophomore midfielder Yael Averbuch. After a foul on Duke about six yards outside the penalty area on the right side, Averbuch stepped up a struck a ball which went into the upper left corner. Duke goalkeeper Allison Lipsher had no chance on the shot and just 7:16 into the match the Tar Heels were up 1-0.

The first half ended up a total of five shots in the game but action picked up significantly in the second half. A little over 15 minutes into the second 45 minutes the Tar Heels began to press their advantage and it resulted in two goals in a span of only 44 seconds.

The first goal came after defender Jessica Maxwell served a long ball from the Tar Heel side of midfield. Elizabeth Guess flicked it on to Whitney Engen who beat her defender and then slipped a shot from 10 yards out on the left side of the box to the far post to beat Lipsher. The goal came at 62:24.

With momentum going UNC's way, Carolina struck again quickly just seconds after the ensuing kickoff. Elizabeth Guess gathered a ball in the center and slipped a through ball to Tobin Heath. Heath ran onto the ball in the left side of the penalty area where she beat Lipsher one-on-one for a 3-0 lead at 63:08.

Duke had three great chances to score in the waning minutes of the game but the Tar Heel defense rejected all three. After a corner kick by Lauren Tippetts at 84:34, Rebecca Moros had a shot in the box which was saved by a UNC defender. The ball went to Duke's Christie McDonald who had the second and more dangerous shot but her header was cleared off the line by Ariel Harris.

In the last minute of the game, a long ball by Duke bounded all the way through the defense and into the penalty area where it was headed for the goal. UNC defender Kristi Eveland swooped in at the last minute and cleared the ball away with 45 seconds to play.

Carolina will return home this week to play two games at Fetzer Field. Carolina will host Boston College at 7 p.m. Thursday and then meet Virginia Tech next Sunday at 1 p.m.