Tar Heels beat Duke women

September 25, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina freshman Alyssa Rich scored off a rebound of a shot by Casey Nogueira with 3:01 left in the first overtime period Thursday night to lift top-ranked North Carolina to a 2-1 women's soccer victory over arch-rival Duke before a crowd of 2,428 at Fetzer Field.

Rich's goal capped a wild finish with three goals in the final 14 minutes of the game after the teams had failed to score in the first 83 plus minutes of the match.

Maria Lubrano had given UNC a lead with 6:54 to play with her first career goal as she scored on a rebound of her own initial shot which clanged off the cross bar.

Duke capitalized on a counter attack with 1:06 to play in the game to earn the equalizer as KayAnne Gummersall headed home her sixth goal of the year off a cross by Cody Newman.

The game went to overtime and the key play was set up by 2008 National Player of the Year Nogueira. The senior from Raleigh, N.C. won control of the ball, worked herself free and fired a bullet at Duke freshman goalie Tara Campbell. Campbell was able to knock down the initial shot but the ball was hit with such velocity that Campbell was unable to hold on to it and the ball popped free in the box where the speedy Rich ran on to it and deposited it past Campbell inside the right netting.

UNC earned the point in the 2009-10 Carlyle Cup race and now leads this year's competition 2-0. The Carlyle Cup is presented annually to the school which wins the head-to-head competition based on play in 24 varsity sports.
 

UNC had a 21-6 edge in shots and an 11-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Check back later here at TarHeelBlue.com for a more complete summary of Thursday night's game. 
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