University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
13-2 (6-1ACC)
Duke
8-8 (1-6ACC)
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 11 | 8 | 19 |
| Duke | 5 | 2 | 7 |
April 22, 2017 | Women's Lacrosse
DURHAM, N.C. – Molly Hendrick scored a career-high seven goals as the third-ranked University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team beat No. 20 Duke, 19-7, on Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Tar Heel win, combined with Syracuse's loss at Louisville on Saturday, gave Carolina the outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular season championship for the third year in a row. UNC will be the top seed in next week's ACC Tournament.
Carolina improved to 13-2 overall in 2017 and finish the regular season 6-1 in ACC play. Duke is 8-8, 1-6.
The Tar Heels have won 30 of their last 32 games overall and 19 of their last 20 against ACC opponents. UNC has beaten Duke six consecutive times and in nine of the last 10 meetings. Carolina's 19 goals are the most it has ever scored against the Blue Devils.
In addition to Hendrick's seven goals, Carolina got two goals and four assists from Sydney Holman, three goals and one assist from Caroline Wakefield and two goals and 11 draw controls from Sammy Jo Tracy, who broke her own school record for most draw controls in a season. Carley Reed, Marie McCool and Ela Hazar all had a goal and an assist, and Katie Hoeg and Gianna Bowe added single goals.
Duke got three goals from Kyra Harney and two each from Olivia Jenner and Maddie Crutchfield.
"I'm really happy with how my team collectively responded to the setback last weekend against Syracuse," head coach Jenny Levy said after the game. "We really focused on us today, playing collectively and playing hard for 60 minutes. When you're unselfish and you play hard and are engaged, good things happen. Defensively we got some good stops early. Caylee [Waters] played great. Offensively, we were really hard to shut down today because we have so many offensive threats."
Carolina took a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game and eventually led, 3-1, before Duke tied it at 3-all at the 16:02 mark of the first half. The Tar Heels then ripped off a 6-0 run to take a 9-3 lead, eventually taking an 11-5 lead into the locker room at halftime. Carolina out-shot Duke, 25-14, in the first half and controlled 12 of 17 first-half draws.
It was all Tar Heels after the break, as UNC opened the half on a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach at 18-5.
Caylee Waters tied her career high with 13 saves, along with four ground balls for Carolina in goal, improving to 13-2 this season. Gabbe Cadoux had eight saves and took the loss for Duke.
Carolina out-shot Duke, 37-26, and had 19 draw controls to Duke's nine. The Tar Heels also had a 23-15 edge in ground balls.
Carolina will return to action next Thursday in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Richmond, Va. The top-seeded Tar Heels will play the eighth-seeded Blue Devils at 11 a.m.
