Men's Soccer Falls to No. 4 UNC, 1-0

Friday, September 17

Durham, N.C.

6:30 PM

Duke University

North Carolina

Men's Soccer Falls to No. 4 UNC, 1-0

9/17/2010 9:59:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-North Carolina freshman Bruno Castro tallied a goal with 11:29 remaining to lead the fourth-ranked Tar Heels to a 1-0 men's soccer victory over No. 11 Duke in front of a capacity crowd at the Blue Devils' Koskinen Stadium. The game was televised live by Fox Soccer Channel.

Duke drops its first contest of the season, falling to 2-1-2 overall on the year and 0-1-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. North Carolina improves to 3-1-0 overall on the year and 2-0-0 in conference action.

"In the second half we came out and made some adjustments and played a lot better, but we still need to improve some things," head coach John Kerr said. "Some guys played okay tonight, we weren't at our best. I thought Temi [Molinar] was pretty good. He was really aggressive going forward and his dribbling caused some problems. I thought he had a good game tonight."

The Tar Heels had an 18-8 advantage in shots for the game and a 7-2 edge in shots on goal. Both squads earned seven corner kicks in the 90 minutes of action.

The Blue Devils had the first good look of the game in the fourth minute as senior Cole Grossman sent a perfectly weighted pass to Ryan Finley. The sophomore striker collected the ball, went at his defender and slipped a shot just past the far post to keep the game scoreless.

After much of the next 15 minute was played through the midfield, the Tar Heels started to control the run of play. The Blue Devil defense stayed strong and organized in not letting North Carolina get a lot of quality looks on goal.

In the 36th minute, Tar Heel Eddie Ababio fired a shot at the near post after the ball was served back in the box, but Duke goalie James Belshaw made the big stop to send the two teams into the locker room even at zero.

The Tar Heels held a 13-3 advantage in shots in the opening 45 minutes. Belshaw finished with five stops in the first half.

Duke picked up the momentum in the second half as play was even almost the whole way through. Junior Temi Molinar nearly made it a 1-0 game just three minutes into the stanza after he beat his defender down the right flank and ripped a shot just wide of the goal. The Blue Devils continued to pressure the Tar Heel defense, earning three consecutive corner kicks in the 58th minute, but were unable to connect.

North Carolina broke through to take a 1-0 lead in the 79th minute as Bruno Castro got open in the penalty area. Off a pass from Josh Rice, Castro received the ball eight yards from goal on the left post and was able to beat Belshaw with a shot to the far post.

The Blue Devils continued to battle through the final 11 minutes, however the Tar Heel defense was up to the task as they posted their second consecutive shutout.

The loss was just Duke's second in the past 18 games at home. Belshaw finished the game with six saves, while North Carolina goaltender Scott Goodwin had two stops.

Duke will hit the road for the first time on Sept. 21, traveling to UNC Wilmington for a 7 p.m., contest. The next ACC game for Duke will be against Boston College on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium.

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