North Carolina Rallies Past Duke In Second Half To Advance To ACC Final
Nov. 5, 2004
CARY, N.C. - Top-seeded North Carolina rallied with three goals in the second half Friday night to erase a halftime deficit and defeat fourth-seeded Duke 4-2 in the second semifinal match of the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Tournament at SAS Soccer Stadium. UNC freshman forward Jaime Gilbert scored two goals 5:24 apart early in the second half to erase a 2-1 Duke halftime lead as the Tar Heels rallied for the third time this year from a halftime deficit to win. North Carolina (18-0-1) now advances to the championship match of the ACC Tournament for the 17th successive year and it will play second-seeded Virginia (16-2-1) for the title Sunday at 3 p.m. at SAS Soccer Stadium. The Cavaliers advanced to the final with a 2-1 victory over sixth-seeded Clemson earlier Friday. Friday's Duke-Carolina matchup featured sparkling offensive performances by both teams. Gilbert led the Tar Heels with two goals and an assist while sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Guess also scored a pair of goal for UNC. Carolyn Riggs powered the offense for the Blue Devils with two goals of her own. And UNC senior forward Anne Morrell tied the ACC Tournament record for assists in a game as she assisted on the first three Tar Heel goals. Unlike in Wednesday's quarterfinal match when UNC had to go 103 minutes before scoring to beat Maryland 1-0, the Tar Heels got on the board quickly against Duke. At the 5:57 mark, Morrell fed a ball from the middle of the field that was flicked on at the top of the box by Gilbert to Guess. Guess one-timed the ball from the left side of the box past Duke goalkeeper Allison Lipsher from about 14 yards out to make it 1-0 in favor of Carolina. Duke, however, kept up steady pressure and ACC Offensive Player of the Year Casey McCluskey gained possession about 40 yards away from the goal and fed a ball to Riggs. Riggs beat two Tar Heel defenders and slotted a shot into the upper right corner at the 18:12 mark to tie the match. Riggs also had the lone Blue Devil goal in the regular season meeting of the two teams which UNC won on October 28 in Chapel Hill 2-1.
Less than two minutes later, the Blue Devils (13-7) took a 2-1 lead as Carolyn Ford claimed a takeaway and fed the ball between two defenders to Riggs who beat UNC goalkeeper Aly Winget. It was the first time since the 1999 regular season meeting between Carolina and Duke won by UNC 3-2 that the Blue Devils have had a lead on the Tar Heels. Duke led that match 2-0 before the Tar Heels staged a three-goal second-half rally. Rallying was on Carolina's mind again Friday and it happened quickly in the second half. Just five minutes in Anne Morrell slipped the ball into the middle of the box to Jaime Gilbert and the powerful freshman from North Andover, Mass. beat her defenders and went one-on-one versus Lipsher to score the tying goal. Then at 55:24, the Tar Heels made it 3-2 as Morrell once again made the final pass from the right side to Gilbert in the penalty area and the freshman striker shot the ball back towards the right side just inside the post for the eventual game-winning goal. Gilbert also scored the game-winner against Duke in the October 28 match. Carolina finished off the scoring at 72:38 as Guess scored her second goal of the night and third of the year. Freshman Katie Brooks, with her back to the goal, pushed the ball to the right side to Kendall Fletcher. Fletcher carried the ball into the corner and she launched a cross to the far post that eluded Lipsher but found the foot of Guess for the final score of the match. Duke 2 0--2 |
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