As November days in North Carolina go, this one
was perfect. Sixty degrees, slight breeze, clouds all
somewhere else. And at Duke's Koskinen Stadium, 5,273 fans
showed up expecting a typical Duke-Carolina war.
<br><br>But as games go, this one didn't. <br><br>North
Carolina jumped all over the Blue Devils from the opening
whistle, and try as they might, Duke could not solve UNC
on a day when Carolina was at their best. The 16-3
Tar Heels, seeded third, won yet another ACC
tournament title in the first year that they were not
favored to do so. <br><br>Duke, the tournament's fifth
seed, advanced to the title match by not allowing a
goal in their first two tourney games. In the first
round, the Blue Devils and Virginia went goalless for
120 minutes before Duke emerged the winner in a
shootout. Then they held Clemson, the high-scoring top
seed, without a goal and used Carly Fuller's 66th
minute bomb to take a 1-0 win over the Tigers.
<br><br>Meanwhile, North Carolina breezed through the first two
rounds, expending little energy in a 5-1 win over N.C.
State and a 3-0 dismantling of Florida State in the
semis. And in a tournament where teams play three games
in four days and fresh legs are often the
determining factor, energy saved often equals games won.
<br><br>But when Duke and Carolina meet in any sport,
adrenaline replaces energy and pride makes up for fatigue.
At least on paper. <br><br>Playing UNC when you're
fresh can be withering. The Tar Heels have a
"90-minutes of Hell" philosophy that puts constant
high-energy pressure on their opponents. Carolina, who had
been a slow starting team most of the season, came out
with a fury that became the program's trademark over
the years. The pressure increased as the half wore
on, and in the 15th minute it paid off when Alyssa
Ramsey scored her 12th goal of the season to give the
Heels a1-0 lead. Jordan Walker took a pass from
tournament MVP Meredith Florance with 24 minutes left in the
half and slid it under Helgadottir for a 2-0 lead.
<br><br>"I told (UNC coach) Anson (Dorrance) after the game
that it's very difficult to replicate that kind of
pressure (in practice)," said Duke coach Bill Hempen after
the game. "We can talk about it and try to replicate
it, but until you play against it, you don't really
understand." <br><br>The goal Duke needed to change the
momentum before halftime never came, and Kalli Kamholz
made it 3-0 with a header off a corner kick early in
the second half. With that, Duke faded just a little
bit more, and the prospect of beating UNC's
goalkeeper -- Olympic team alternate Jenni Branam -- seemed
more daunting than ever. Anne Remy's diving header in
the 78th minute gave UNC the 4-0 result.