Tag Archives: Erwin Cup

Catching Up on Duke/UNC Fall Sports

Hey gang, wanted to check in this morning with a quick update on some of the fall sports reaching their climax in the Triangle.

Women’s Soccer

As you all could probably tell, I’ve become pretty obsessed with women’s soccer this year, which I never imagined would be so much fun to watch. In that department, UNC suffered its FIRST EVER LOSS in the ACC tournament last weekend, losing in the quarterfinals to Florida State. That’s a bit of a deceiving word formulation, because UNC has actually lost three times previously on penalty kicks, but still, it’s the first regulation loss for the team that’s won 18 of 21 ACC tournaments. UNC also set a new program low with five losses on the season, and they’ll need an at-large bid to even make the tournament. Strange stuff for one of the best teams in college history.

The Dukies, on the other hand, are in prime form. Ranked third in the country, they’ll face Wake Forest in the ACC semis tomorrow in Cary (I’ll be there at 5:30). Duke won just its second ACC regular season title a week ago, and are vying for their first ACC tournament championship. After that, they’ll attempt to make just the second Final Four in school history, and win the first championship. Their lone ACC loss this year came to Carolina, when they were missing freshman standout Kelly Cobb and conceded the deciding goal with two minutes remaining.

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Duke takes its first Erwin Cup lead! (Sorta)

With last night’s 1-0 win over N.C. State, the Duke women’s soccer team won the regular season ACC championship (only the second in program history, and the first since 1994) and earned four points for the Devils in the Erwin Cup.

Technically, that gives Duke a 6.5-4.5 lead, as you see on the scoreboard to your right.

Unfortunately, what I didn’t realize is that the ACC field hockey season has come to an end, and the UNC women are champions. So…when those points go up, UNC will be back in the lead, 7.5-6.5.

But until William fixes the score…GO DEVILS!

Edit: I’ve fixed the scoreboard. GO HEELS! – William

The game in Raleigh was great last night. State smartly played a very defensive game, double- and triple-teaming Kelly Cobb up front and basically taking her out of the game. Continue reading

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Quick Post – Duke Women’s Soccer and the ACC Title

Just a quick one to note that the Duke women (7-1-1) are going for their first ACC title since 1994 and only their second overall tonight in Raleigh against N.C. State (1-6-2 in conference). These are nearly uncharted waters for Duke, who were led by Laura Weinberg’s two goals to a crucial 2-0 win over Wake Forest last week. For her play, Weinberg was named the ACC Player of the Week. They followed that with a 3-1 win on Senior Day against Maryland. Freshman standout Kelly Cobb was healthy again, and you can see highlights here:

With a win or a draw tonight, Duke will secure the title and the #1 seed going into the ACC Tournament, which they’ve never won. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m covering the team for a feature story, and I’ll be there in Raleigh this evening.

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Duke Earns Its First Erwin Cup Point!

The Duke football essay project returns tomorrow, but in the meantime, here’s the wrap from the weekend.

-Check the scoreboard, baby! (Right sidebar.) Duke has its first point of the Erwin Cup, and it was well-earned. Visiting the #5 UNC Tar Heels, the men’s soccer team pulled out an incredible 2-2 draw. Luckily, Will asked me the day before the game what would happen in the case of a tie, and we decided that the difference in possible points earned would go to the road team. So in this case, UNC stood to gain 3 with a home win, and Duke would get 4 with a road win. The difference is 1, so Duke takes the point.

Riley Wolfe scored the game-tying goal for Duke in the 84th minute, and the Blue Devils are now unbeaten in their last five matches.

-UNC women’s soccer did a better for themselves, winning 4-1 at Miami. You can watch the goals here.

-Duke women’s soccer continued its incredible season, and Tara Campbell earned yet another shutout, in a 1-0 win over Virginia Tech. You can see the nifty goal, scored by Kaitlyn Kerr after a great headed pass from Chelsea Canepa, here:

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Looking ahead: Duke-UNC men’s soccer, Friday night

Stuff to know:

-The game is in Chapel Hill, and UNC wants to break the single-game attendance record. (Linke opens. pdf)

-The Duke women’s team is red-hot, but the men are entrenched in a year-long struggle. They started off ranked, but a series of close losses pushed them well out of the top 25. On the other hand, they’re now working on a 4-match winning streak in which they’ve scored at least four goals in each. Here’s video from their win against Presbyterian. Notice how the players don’t seem to celebrate even a little after a goal. Do they hate each other?


-Unlike Duke, UNC has had a dream season. They started off the year with a win over #1-ranked Louisville, and have lost just one game, a 1-0 road loss to Virginia Tech, en route to compiling an 8-1 record. Their last win, yesterday against #14 Old Dominion, should shoot them up even higher than their current #5 ranking.

 

I will be there for the second ever Erwin Cup match. If anyone attends, any kind of Erwin Cup sign will make the pages of this blog.

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UNC Wins First Ever Erwin Cup Points

UNC field hockey player Elizabeth Stephens became the first athlete to score a point in the Erwin Cup last weekend, netting a double overtime goal to give UNC a 1-0 field hockey win over Duke.

Since the match took place in Chapel Hill, UNC earns 1.5 points. The current standings are:

UNC: 1.5
Duke: 0

For more information about the Erwin Cup, a year-long athletic competition pitting Duke against UNC, read here:

The history of W.A. Erwin and his Cup

The Rules

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The Erwin Cup is here!

History is about to be made, my friends. W.A. Erwin is about to ride Tobacco Road again, screaming his pioneering head off. In case you’re not schooled, the Erwin Cup is a brand new competition pitting Duke and UNC athletics against one another in a year-long battle. Points are accrued for rivalry wins, ACC titles, Final Four appearances, and National Championships. The sports are weighted according to importance, ensuring that this is the best and most accurate measure of the rivalry to date. For more info, read up on:

The history of W.A. Erwin and his Cup

The Rules

Tomorrow afternoon, at 1pm, it begins. UNC field hockey takes on Duke at Chapel Hill’s Henry Stadium in the first ever Erwin Cup set-to. Points are at stake, baby! The eyes of the world are on us!

If anyone happens to attend this match, or any other, you can achieve instant Tobacco Road Blues notoriety by taking a picture yourself with a sign at the game. It can be home-made, elaborate, or purchased. All we ask is that you have the blog name written somewhere along with the words “Erwin Cup.” Take a picture, send it along, and I will post the hell out of it and write some complimentary words. And you know what? I’ll also name the match after you. BAM! I can do that. Limited time only. Get it while it’s piping.

Am I expecting any blog readers to attend a field hockey match on a college football Saturday? Not necessarily. Am I willing to be surprised? Fuck yes necessarily. So willing. So willing that I just willed myself a daydream about field hockey. At least it started off that way. Turned into a daydream about me and an angry Abe Lincoln beating up some State fans in a parking lot. But there was like a minute or two of field hockey, I swear.

Come Monday, we should have a sweet page for you with a running tally of the Erwin Cup score courtesy of William the Intrepid (Site Designer). After that, we’re straight grooving for the year.

Second-to-last thing: the good folks at Grantland are letting me write a College Football Spectacular every Thursday. It’s a preview of the weekend ahead, it’s fun to write, and I would dearly appreciate y’all’s support. Triangle Prophets coming later.

Last thing: I discovered this song yesterday, and I’ve listened to it basically on repeat. What a chorus. Happy Friday, free souls.

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The W.A. Erwin Cup: Rules

The W.A. Erwin Cup is year-long competition between Duke and UNC to determine which school had the superior year in athletics. It takes every sport into account, and leaves no stone unturned. This is the people’s alternative to the insufficient Carlyle Cup. Don’t miss part one, which reviewed the history that led us to this point and explained the origin story of W.A. Erwin.

Now, it’s on to the rules! Please note that these rules are sort of like the draft you turn in just before the final draft. We welcome reader feedback. If you see a flaw in the system, or just have an idea for improvement, let us know in the comments. It will be helpful, I promise, and we’ll give you special recognition for having made an amendment.

Part Two: RULES

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The W.A. Erwin Cup: Background

Part One: Background

Ladies and gentlemen, today is an important day in our historic rivalry. Today, we cease to be indebted to a tire company’s notion of Duke and Carolina. Today, we honor a man whose name spans two schools, and yet is all but forgotten to history. Today, we seek at long last to honestly measure the year-long merit of the schools closest to our heart. Today, the fight begins in earnest.

Thus, we introduce:

The W.A. Erwin Cup

The good stuff is coming, but bear with me now as I take you through a tour of the history and background that led us to this critical point.

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