Despite playing with 10 men for the final 24 minutes, the UNC men’s soccer team was able to hold on to a slim lead and see out a 2-1 upset win against No. 11 Duke at Dorrance Field on Sunday evening. It’s Carolina’s first win against Duke since the 2020-21 season.

Carolina was forced to go a man down when Quenzi Huerman drew a red card in the 66th minute. Huerman had been a hero in the first half, scoring the go-ahead goal for the Tar Heels after intercepting a Duke pass. Huerman’s strike came just 16 minutes after teammate Andrew Czech curled in a beauty to equalize. That goal came four minutes after the Blue Devils had nosed in front.

Duke wouldn’t go quietly, as the visitors unleashed 14 shots in the second half in search of an equalizer. But UNC goalkeeper Andrew Cordes was up to the task, making four critical saves to preserve the lead. The most hectic sequence came in the 88th minute, as Cordes parried away a Blue Devil header before a shot on the rebound deflected off the UNC crossbar. Cordes had to make one more save with 16 seconds remaining to see out the win.

Huerman’s ejection was surprisingly the only one in a very chippy match, one which featured 36 fouls and 15 total cards.

UNC is still unbeaten on the season at 4-0-3, with Sunday’s win the team’s first in conference play. The Tar Heels are 1-0-2 in three league matches so far. Up next for Carolina is a road trip to Pittsburgh on Friday at 7 p.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Men’s Soccer on Twitter

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