This Halloween night matchup will feature two teams coming off two different extremes. Duke (13-1-1) just clinched the ACC regular season title for the first time since 2017 with a 2-0 win over then-No. 2 Wake Forest. And earlier in the season the Blue Devils claimed their first-ever home win over the Tar Heels (1-0) in program history.
North Carolina (14-3-3), on the other hand, was just handed a 4-2 loss in Tallahassee by the reigning national champion, then-No. 17 Florida State, that came a week after a gut-wrenching 1-0 loss at Stanford.
A rematch with our rivals…this time, on our turf 😤
🎟️ » https://t.co/OQ90TeTFgH pic.twitter.com/KrzCYiUPT0
— UNC Women’s Soccer (@uncwomenssoccer) October 28, 2024
Despite its two losses in three matches, North Carolina has put up results over several tough opponents, ranking No. 1 in RPI rankings for five straight weeks — Duke has consistently been ranked as a close second. The pair were also next-door-neighbors in the NCAA committee’s top-16 in-season ranking, with the Blue Devils at No. 1 and UNC right behind them. The Tar Heels will have to put up a strong backline to hold off Duke’s impressive scoring offense, which currently ranks third best in the nation in goals per game (3.33).
Although the Blue…
