Tar Heels Down Duke To Claim ACC Championship

Sunday, November 5

Charleston, S.C.

1 p.m.

North Carolina

15-2-2

Duke

19-2-0

North Carolina

Duke

2017 ACC champions

November 5, 2017 | Women's Soccer

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Zoe Redei's goal is the difference in title match.

By: Dave Lohse

Tar Heels Claim ACC Title, First Since 2009 Season

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The University of North Carolina women's soccer team (ranked #4, seeded #2) defeated top-seeded and second-ranked Duke Sunday afternoon to win the Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Soccer Championship at MUSC Health Stadium in Charleston, S.C. Zoe Redei's goal on a rebound in the first minute of the second half was the difference as the Tar Heels prevailed by a score of 1-0 over their arch rivals. That was the same score by which the Tar Heels had beaten NC State Friday night in the semifinals on Alessia Russo's second-half unassisted goal.

With the victory, the Tar Heels earned their first ACC championship since 2009 and their 21^st ACC Tournament title overall since the first event in 1988. The Tar Heels also won the ACC title in 1987 when it was contested in a round robin format. The tournament title also earned Carolina the automatic bid to the NCAA championship from the ACC.

"They should be very proud to win a championship in ACC women's soccer," UNC veteran coach Anson Dorrance said of his squad. "This is clearly the top conference in the country from top to bottom. We are very proud just to be a member of this conference, and the girls have every reason to celebrate this championship."

Carolina outshot the Blue Devils 11-10 in the game and had a 3-0 edge in corner kicks. UNC had five shots on goal in the game and Duke just two. E.J. Proctor made four saves for the Blue Devils and allowed the only goal of the game while Samantha Leshnak had two saves. Leshnak recorded her 11^th solo shutout of the season in 19 games with nine of those shutouts coming against ACC teams.

Alessio Russo was named the tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goal against NC State in the semifinals and assisting on the game-winning goal in the championship match.

The complete All-Tournament Team is as follows:

Veronica Latsko, Virginia
Tziarra King, NC State
EJ Proctor, Duke
Ella Stevens, Duke
Schuyler DeBree, Duke
Kayla McCoy, Duke
Julia Ashley, North Carolina
Joanna Boyles, North Carolina
Dorian Bailey, North Carolina
Abby Elinsky, North Carolina
Alessia Russo, North Carolina – MVP

The only goal of the game came in the first minute of the second half. Alessia Russo had a shot in box on the left side that was deflected by a Duke defender. The ball fell directly into the path of Zoe Redei who took a couple of dribbles and then blasted a shot from 10 yards out into the top shelf of the goal for the eventual winning score. It was Redei's second goal of the season, both in the last seven days and both on rebounds.

"Zoe roofed it," Dorrance said. "Lest people forget, Zoe was my top player last August and September before she got hurt. She is a quality player who has been working her way back from a foot injury she had her freshman year. She's quality, and she demonstrated it with that finish."

Carolina had two tremendous chances to score in the opening 16 minutes of the game but were denied on both occasions by reaction saves by Proctor. Julia Ashley's header off a free kick by Joanna Boyles at 3:24 was deflected off the right post for a corner kick. Redei had a close-in header in the box saved by Proctor late in the 16th minute. Duke placed only two shots on goal, both saved by Leshnak. The Tar Heel junior keeper saved a shot from distance by Ella Stevens in the 72nd minute while Leshnak denied Karlie Paschall from close range in the 86th minute, the best Blue Devil chance of the game.

With the win the Tar Heels have clinched the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and likely one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament bracket. The selection show will air at 4:30 p.m. on NCAA.com on Monday.

North Carolina heads into the NCAA Tournament with a record of 15-2-2. Duke is 19-2-0 on the season. The only losses for the Blue Devils this year came against North Carolina. The Tar Heels beat Duke 2-1 on August 18 in the season opener between the two teams. The loss snapped a school-record 19-game winning streak for the nationally second-ranked Blue Devils (19-2).

"We knew of Duke's quality going in," Dorrance said. "To go through this conference not only unbeaten, but untied, is an amazing achievement. We knew we had to make a good run here to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

"Maybe we had a motivation that Duke did not," Dorrance said. "I thought coming into this event that only Stanford and Duke were shoo-ins for No. 1 seeds. Obviously, our kids played really well and I'm very proud of them."