CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-The Duke University men's soccer team came on strong late, but was unable to battle back from a two-goal deficit in a 2-1 setback to third-ranked North Carolina in front of 4,439 fans at Fetzer Field. With the win the Tar Heels take an early 1-0 lead in the Carlyle Cup competition.

Freshman Ryan Finley  tallied the goal for the 11th-ranked Blue Devils in the 79th minute. North Carolina (4-0-1, 2-0-0) outshot Duke 17-5 for the game. Duke suffers its first loss of the year, falling to 4-1-0 overall and 1-1-0 in the ACC standings.

"First I have to congratulate North Carolina," head coach John Kerr said. "They played a great game and they deserved to win and they taught us a lot about where we are at the moment and where we need to go."

The Tar Heels generated the first good look of the evening in the 13th minute when the ball fell to the feet of Cameron Brown at the top of the penalty box. His one-time strike sailed just over the crossbar. In the 18th minute, Enzo Martinez took a chance just inside the 18-yard box, missing the mark high again.

Duke continued to try to get behind the Tar Heel defense, but was unable to find that connecting pass.

"The first thing they were doing was when they lost the ball they put pressure on us right away and made life very difficult for us," Kerr said. "We didn't take advantage of when we won possession. They're a very experienced team and it was their game tonight."

After missing two good chances earlier in the game, North Carolina broke through for the 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute off of a Billy Schuler score. Schuler collected the ball at the top of the penalty area, created a quick window and fired a shot off the inside of the left post and into the goal.

Duke came close to evening the score moments later when Cole Grossman nearly intercepted a header back to Tar Heel goalie Brooks Haggerty. The Blue Devils generated their best chance of the first half just under the five minute mark as Temi Molinar made an immediate impact off the bench. He beat a couple players and touched to the ball to Trae Harrison  at the 12-yard spot in the box, but a Tar Heel defender recovered just in time to stop Harrison from getting his shot off. Ryan McDaniel tried to get a rebound shot, but it was blocked and picked up by Haggerty to send North Carolina into halftime with a 1-0 lead.

North Carolina held a 5-0 advantage on shots in the opening 45 minutes, while both teams earned one corner kick.

Coming out of the break with a few slight changes in the lineup, Duke was able to better possess the ball and put North Carolina on its heels. Weathering a brief storm by the Blue Devils, the Tar Heels nearly made it 2-0 off a corner kick 13 minutes into the second stanza.

Duke came right back, working the ball up the field and finding the head of Ryan Finley in the penalty area. Finley's header nearly sailed past the near post, but Haggerty was there to make the stop to keep North Carolina's 1-0 lead safe.

The Tar Heels' high-powered offense-they rank fifth in the nation in scoring offense-went to work again, taking a 2-0 lead in the 69th minute with a goal from Cameron Brown. Alex Waters took a pass from Chris Lebo and fed a wide-open Brown on the left side. The junior midfielder slipped it to the far post for the two-goal advantage with 20 minutes left to play.

Duke made things interesting in the 78th minute when Josh Bienenfeld fired a swerving shot on frame from nearly 30 yards out. A difficult shot for a goalkeeper to handle, Haggerty parried the ball away, but Finley was right on the doorstep to clean up the rebound. The goal was Finley's second of the year and pulled the Blue Devils within one with 12 minutes left to play.

The Blue Devils continued to push the pace in the final 10 minutes in search of the equalizer. That equalizer nearly came with just over three minutes left in the game as a Grossman free kick  from the left corner skipped across the face of the goal with nobody getting a touch on it to put it away.

"The difference in the second half was I think we tried to possess the ball a little bit more," senior Ryan McDaniel said. "We were able to get the ball in behind them with long balls and I think that put a little more pressure on them. Defensively I think they slowed down a little and we were able to push up on them."

The Tar Heels ran out the final 120 seconds to clinch the 2-1 victory and remain unbeaten atop the ACC standings.

"I'm pleased with the second-half performance," Kerr said. "I thought we came into the game a lot more and gave them a lot more problems. We were a little unlucky not to squeak a tie out of that."

James Belshaw had a strong outing in goal for the Blue Devils, making six stops in 90 minutes of action. Haggerty had four stops for North Carolina, all of which came in the second half. The Tar Heels held a 5-1 advantage on corner kicks.

Duke takes a break from ACC play on Sept. 22, hosting UNC Wilmington at 7 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium.