No. 5 Duke Hosts North Carolina in ACC Home Opener

DURHAM – Fresh off a 2-1 come-from-behind victory at then-No. 10 Louisville last Saturday, fifth-ranked Duke (4-0-0, 1-0-0) welcomes rival North Carolina (3-2-0, 0-1-0) to Koskinen Stadium for the Blue Devils’ ACC home-opener on Friday evening. First touch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., with the match streaming live on ACC Network Extra.

SERIES HISTORY

• Duke and North Carolina will renew the rivalry for the 98th time overall on Friday night, with the Blue Devils trailing in the series 37-50-10.
• The No. 12 Blue Devils defeated the No. 16 Tar Heels in their last matchup, taking home a 3-0 road win on Sept. 19 of last year.
• Shakur Mohammed and Amir Daley scored two goals in the first 14 minutes of play to open up an early lead and scored their third goal of the contest in the 50th minute when Scotty Taylor slotted it home. Goalkeeper Eliot Hamill finished the game in 2021 with his second consecutive shutout and his fourth in five games.

TALE OF THE TAPE

• North Carolina received votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week, collecting the second-most votes outside of the top-25.
• The Tar Heels secured a win in their mid-week game against East Tennessee State on Tuesday night, beating the Bucs by a score of 1-0.
• North Carolina was picked to finish second in the Coastal Division in the ACC Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll, receiving 52 total points, including five first-place votes. The Tar Heels also picked up two votes to finish as ACC champion

LAST TIME OUT

• Duke used two second-half goals to comeback against No. 10 Louisville last Saturday, defeating the Cardinals 2-1.
• The ACC opener for both teams was a top-10 matchup, with the Blue Devils ranked seventh.
• Jai Bean and Shakur Mohammed were the goal scorers for Duke, with Bean scoring his first goal of the season in the 54th minute and Mohammed firing home his third goal of 2022 in the 82nd minute.

WEEKLY HONORS FOR MOHAMMED

• Shakur Mohammed picked up several weekly awards following his offensive efforts against Louisville on Sept. 10.
• The sophomore M/F assisted on the Blue Devils’ first goal of the game and then scored the game-winner in the 82nd minute to push No. 7 Duke past No. 10 Louisville, 2-1.
• Mohammed was named ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13 and was also named to both TopDrawerSoccer and…