Tar Heels Fall 3-0 At No. 2 Duke

Saturday, October 22

Durham, N.C.

1:00 PM

North Carolina

(12-4 (3-3ACC))

Duke

(14-2 (5-1ACC))

Team	1	2	Final F
North Carolina	0	0	0
Duke	2	1	3

October 22, 2016 | Field Hockey

Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 2 Duke scored two first-half goals and added another in the second half to earn a 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey win over fourth-ranked North Carolina Saturday afternoon at Williams Field. UNC falls to 12-4 overall, 3-3 in ACC play with the loss. The Blue Devils are 14-2 overall, 5-1 in conference play.

With the win, Duke earned the ACC regular-season championship, the first in program history, and the top seed in the upcoming conference tournament, to be contested in Winston-Salem, N.C., Nov. 3, 4 and 6.

The Tar Heels finished regular-season ACC play as one of four teams with 3-3 records. With tie-breakers taken into account, Carolina is the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament and will take on Nov. 4 Louisville in the event's opening game, Nov. 3 at 11 a.m. UNC is the defending champion and could have earned the tournament's top seed with a win on Saturday.

“Congratulations to Duke,” UNC coach Karen Shelton said. “They were the aggressor today and they played very well. I thought they out-defended us. It was not a typical day for Carolina – we defended poorly, we started slowly and too carefully. We were afraid to lose as opposed to trying to win the game.”

Duke's gamewinner came in the 25th minute of play on a penalty corner, when Robin Blazing deflected a ball past UNC goalkeeper Alex Halpin for a 1-0 lead. The Blue Devils scored again just 1:06 before halftime to make it 2-0 at the break. The third goal came in the 44th minute of play.

Shelton called a timeout with 10:41 remaining and pulled her goalkeeper in favor of an additional field player. “It was something to try to generate some attack,” Shelton said. “We didn't have much success in that all game. This was a day that they played better – no getting around it. All we can do is learn a hard lesson and get better.”

UNC won this season's first matchup with Duke (3-2 in Chapel Hill on Sept. 25) and had won six straight in the series, dating back to the 2013 season, when Duke won in overtime in Chapel Hill. Carolina last lost to Duke in Durham in 2006.

Three of UNC's four losses this fall have been shoutouts, but the other two were by 1-0 scores. This is the Tar Heels' first three-goal loss since 2010, when they fell 5-2 to Maryland in the ACC Tournament.

“It's unusual for us to have a score like that – we don't like it one bit.,” Shelton said. “We've just got to do some soul-searching and look to improve. I still think we're one of the teams, as is Duke, that can win a national championship. Our focus is to put this game behind us and move forward and look to get better.

Carolina has three games remaining in the regular season, all outside the conference. UNC travels to Liberty Sunday for a 1 p.m. game. The Tar Heels play at Old Dominion on Oct. 29 and then host Appalachian State on Oct. 30 for Senior Day.

No. 2 Duke 3, No. 4 UNC 0

Scoring: DU – Robin Blazing (Alyssa Chillano), 24:34; DU – Ashley Kristen (Morgan Bitting), 33:54; DU – Aisling Naughton (Alexa Mackintire)

Shots: UNC 11 (4/7), Duke 10 (6/4)

Penalty corners: UNC 4 (0/4), Duke 2 (2/0)

Goalkeeper saves: UNC 6 (Alex Halpin, 59:19, 3 goals allowed, 6 saves; Team, 10:41); Duke 8 (Sami Steele, 70:00, 0 goals allowed, 8 saves)

2016 ACC Field Hockey Championship

Thursday, November 3

Game 1 - No. 5 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Louisville (RSN/WatchESPN), 11:00 a.m.

Game 2 - No. 7 Wake Forest vs. No. 2 Syracuse (RSN/ WatchESPN), 1:30 p.m.

Game 3 - No. 6 Virginia vs. No. 3 Boston College (RSN/ WatchESPN), 4:00 p.m.

Friday, November 4

No. 1 Duke vs. Game 1 Winner (RSN/ WatchESPN), 1:00 p.m.