Men’s Soccer Downs Duke With Late Winner, 4-3

Sunday, March 1

Cary, N.C.

6 PM

North Carolina

Duke

Photo by: NATE SKVORETZ

March 1, 2026 | Men's Soccer

CARY, N.C. – University of North Carolina men's soccer used a late winner from Joschi Shelb to down Duke, 4-3, on match day two of the Carolina Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park on Sunday. Shelb was one of four goal scorers on the night along with Bertil Rygaard Hansen, Luca Nikolai and Charlie Antonelius. Nico Loebus provided two assists on the day, while Shelb offered the third.

Rygaard Hansen got the Heels off and running with a chance in the first minute, forcing a nice save by Duke's keeper. He got another chance a few minutes later and took his chance to give UNC a 1-0 lead. Loebus provided one of his assists on the opener.

Duke equalized after a ball bouncing around in the box got tapped in. Then, Duke was awarded a penalty after Alan Rutkowski made a nice save at point blank range. The Devils took a 2-1 lead until Luca Nikoali smashed home a penalty to make it 2-2 just before halftime.

The Heels pushed to take the lead, but Duke went up 3-2 in the 68' off a flicked header on a corner kick. UNC continued the push and Charlie Antonelius equalized on his own header from a Shelb corner. Moments later, a Blue Devil was sent off with his second yellow after a nasty challenge on Rutkowski.

Carolina took the opportunity against 10 men and applied serious pressure, nearly taking the lead a few times. In the 89', Loebus used a cut back to find Shelb who buried the winner in the bottom corner.

The Heels saw out the remaining eight minutes or so and moved to 2-0 in the Carolina Cup with wins over Duke and Wake Forest. Next up, UNC will welcome UNCW on Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m.

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