University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Duke
Tar Heels Down Duke, 15-10, To Reach NCAA Quarterfinal
May 15, 2016 | Women's Lacrosse
CHAPEL HILL—Third-seeded North Carolina went on a 5-1 run to start the second half and beat unseeded Duke, 15-10, on Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament second round at sunny Fetzer Field.
Seven UNC players scored goals and five had assists in a balanced attack. Carolina advances to the NCAA quarterfinals for the 12th consecutive year and improved to 19-2 at home in NCAA Tournament play. UNC is 14-1 all-time in the NCAA second round after Sunday's win.
UNC has won 14 games in a row and improved to 17-2 this season. Duke fell to 11-9. Carolina has won seven of the last eight and 13 of the last 16 meetings with Duke.
Carolina advances to face sixth seeded Notre Dame, which beat unseeded Northwestern, 15-3, next Saturday at 1 p.m. in the NCAA quarterfinals in Chapel Hill.
The Tar Heels were led on Sunday by Molly Hendrick's four goals and Sammy Jo Tracy's three goals and two assists. Ela Hazar had two goals and two assists, Aly Messinger had two goals and one assist and Carly Reed scored twice. Marie McCool had a goal and an assist, Charlotte Sofield scored once and Kelly Devlin had an assist.
Duke got four goals and an assist from Kelci Smesko and four goals from Grace Fallon. Kyra Harney had a goal and an assist and Emma Lazaroff had a goal. Maura Schwitter, Stuart Humphrey and Maddie Crutchfield had assists for the Blue Devils.
“We're obviously excited about a win over a good Duke team,” head coach Jenny Levy said afterward. “It's the third time we've played Duke in the last month, which I think is really difficult. It was a tight game all the way through until late in the second half. We had to overcome some difficulty in not playing so well defensively in the first half. Once we got settled down, I thought we got stops and were able to capitalize on the offensive end.”
The first half was relatively even throughout. Carolina took a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes, then saw Duke tie it less than two minutes later with back-to-back goals. Duke scored two consecutive goals in less than a minute to tie the score at 6-all with 11:03 left before halftime, prompting a Tar Heel goalie change. Carolina led, 9-8, at the break.
Carolina held Duke to just one goal in the first 18+ minutes after halfime, going on a 5-1 run to take a 14-9 lead with under 15:00 to play. The Tar Heel defense limited the Blue Devils to just six shots and two goals in the second half while forcing eight second-half Duke turnovers.
Senior Megan Ward started in goal for Carolina and played the first 20:20 of the game, making two saves and allowing six goals. Caylee Waters played the final 39:40 and picked up her 11th win of the season, making five saves and allowing four goals. Kelsey Duryea went the distance for Duke in goal, making eight saves in falling to 11-9.
