University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
14-2
Duke
8-9
| Team | 1 | 2 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| North Carolina | 13 | 5 | 18 |
Balanced Attack Leads UNC Past Duke, 18-6
April 27, 2017 | Women's Lacrosse
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| Postgame Infographic |
RICHMOND, VA. – The top-seeded University of North Carolina women's lacrosse team ran out to an 11-2 first half lead and beat Duke, 18-6, on Thursday in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Richmond Sports Backers Stadium. The Tar Heels, the defending ACC champion, got six points from Sydney Holman, four goals from Carly Reed and four assists from Marie McCool in a balanced attack.
Carolina improved to 14-2 overall in 2017 and advanced to Friday's ACC semifinal at 5 p.m. against either No. 5 seed Boston College, which beat fourth-seeded Notre Dame in Thursday's second quarterfinal. Duke fell to 8-10.
The Tar Heels have won 31 of their last 33 games overall and 20 of their last 21 against ACC opponents.
Carolina got three goals and three assists from Holman, a goal and four assists from McCool and four goals from Reed. Ela Hazar had a goal and two assists, Sammy Jo Tracy had two goals and one assist and Katie Hoeg scored twice. Molly Hendrick, Caroline Wakefield, Kara Klages, Gianna Bowe and Marisa DiVietro each scored one goal.
Duke got two goals from Kitty Morissey and single goals from Maura Schwitter, Catherine Cordrey, Hayley Shaffer and Lindsey Reynolds.
"I thought it was really important to get out to a quick start and be aggressive in all areas of the field, and i thought one of the things we did really well was our ride,” head coach Jenny Levy said afterward. “We had sticks up, causing turnovers and creating opportunities with our defense. It was just a team effort where everybody contributed in different ways.
"It was tough to play Duke two times in one week as our biggest rival, so you didn't know what type of game it was going to be. I thought we only could control what we could control, and we did that really well today."
Caylee Waters started and played the first 45:52 for Carolina, improving to 14-2 this season while allowing four goals and making eight saves. Elise Hennessey played the final 14:08 and made three saves while allowing two goals. Gabbe Cadoux had nine saves in 46:37 and took the loss for Duke while allowing 13 goals.
Carolina jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 3:34 of the game, forcing a Duke timeout. The Tar Heels led, 5-0, after the first 5:45 of action. Carolina built an 8-2 lead in the opening 16:37, forcing a Duke goalie change to Jamie Lockwood for the rest of the first half. The Tar Heels maintained at least a 10-goal advantage for almost all of the second half.
Carolina out-shot Duke, 41-25, and collected 18 ground balls to Duke's seven. The Tar Heels have won the last seven meetings with the Blue Devils.
