University of North Carolina Athletics
The Tar Heels beat Virginia 3-2 on Wednesday to reach the championship game.
Photo by: ACC
Carolina Set To Face Duke For ACC FH Title
November 2, 2023 | Field Hockey
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – North Carolina and Duke met last Friday night in Chapel Hill to decide the Atlantic Coast Conference field hockey regular-season title. This Friday night on the blue turf at Virginia's Turf Field, they'll face off again, this time for the conference tournament crown and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament field.
The top-seeded and second-ranked Tar Heels (13-3) are playing for their seventh ACC Championship in a row and the 26th in program history. Duke (16-3) is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and is ranked third nationally.
A week ago, under the lights at the Tar Heels' Karen Shelton Stadium, Carolina won 2-1 in the teams' regular-season meeting. That meant the teams each had one ACC loss – Carolina fell at Virginia on Oct. 20 – and thus shared the regular-season championship, with UNC getting the top seed in the ACC Tournament based on the head-to-head win.
North Carolina advanced to Friday's title game with a 3-2 win over the host Cavaliers, reversing the score from the regular-season loss. Duke shut out Wake Forest 2-0 in the quarterfinals then Louisville 1-0 in the semifinals to reach the championship game without surrendering a goal.
Admission to the game is free and the action will air live on ACC Network.
Heels vs. Devils
• UNC leads the overall series 83-12, dating back to a 2-0 Duke win on Oct. 3, 1974, Carolina's first season as a varsity program under the umbrella of the Department of Athletics.
• Carolina has won the last nine matchups, dating back to the 2017 season, during which the Tar Heels played and practiced on Duke's home turf while Shelton Stadium was under construction. On Oct. 20, 2017, in what was designated as a home game for UNC and was the Tar Heels' Senior Night even though it was in Durham, the No. 2 Blue Devils beat No. 5 UNC 3-2.
Blue vs. Blue in the postseason
Friday's game will be the 16th time that the Tar Heels and Blue Devils have met in ACC play. Carolina has won 14 of the previous meetings, with Duke's win coming in 2003, 4-3 in a semifinals game played in Charlottesville.
• The teams last met in ACC play in 2016, when UNC won 3-2 in a semifinals matchup in Winston-Salem. Carolina advanced on to the title game but fell 4-2 to Virginia, marking the most recent time that the Tar Heels didn't win the ACC Championship.
• This marks the third time that the teams have met in tournaments played at Virginia, with UNC winning 3-1 in 1984 and Duke winning 4-3 in 2003.
• UNC's first-ever ACC Tournament game was against Duke. In the conference's first tournament, in Chapel Hill in 1983, third-seeded Duke advanced to the semifinals with a first-round win over Wake Forest. Top-seeded Carolina opened its ACC Tournament history with a 2-1 win over the Blue Devils and went on to claim the conference crown with a 1-0 win over Maryland.
• This marks just the third time that UNC and Duke have met in the championship game, with the previous meetings in 1990 and 2011, both in College Park, Md. Carolina won both games by 2-1 scores, with the 1990 game decided in overtime.
• In addition to the ACC meetings, UNC and Duke have met four times in NCAA Tournament play, with Carolina winning three of those. Including those games, the Tar Heels lead the postseason series with Duke 17-2.
The top-seeded and second-ranked Tar Heels (13-3) are playing for their seventh ACC Championship in a row and the 26th in program history. Duke (16-3) is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and is ranked third nationally.
A week ago, under the lights at the Tar Heels' Karen Shelton Stadium, Carolina won 2-1 in the teams' regular-season meeting. That meant the teams each had one ACC loss – Carolina fell at Virginia on Oct. 20 – and thus shared the regular-season championship, with UNC getting the top seed in the ACC Tournament based on the head-to-head win.
North Carolina advanced to Friday's title game with a 3-2 win over the host Cavaliers, reversing the score from the regular-season loss. Duke shut out Wake Forest 2-0 in the quarterfinals then Louisville 1-0 in the semifinals to reach the championship game without surrendering a goal.
Admission to the game is free and the action will air live on ACC Network.
Heels vs. Devils
• UNC leads the overall series 83-12, dating back to a 2-0 Duke win on Oct. 3, 1974, Carolina's first season as a varsity program under the umbrella of the Department of Athletics.
• Carolina has won the last nine matchups, dating back to the 2017 season, during which the Tar Heels played and practiced on Duke's home turf while Shelton Stadium was under construction. On Oct. 20, 2017, in what was designated as a home game for UNC and was the Tar Heels' Senior Night even though it was in Durham, the No. 2 Blue Devils beat No. 5 UNC 3-2.
Blue vs. Blue in the postseason
Friday's game will be the 16th time that the Tar Heels and Blue Devils have met in ACC play. Carolina has won 14 of the previous meetings, with Duke's win coming in 2003, 4-3 in a semifinals game played in Charlottesville.
• The teams last met in ACC play in 2016, when UNC won 3-2 in a semifinals matchup in Winston-Salem. Carolina advanced on to the title game but fell 4-2 to Virginia, marking the most recent time that the Tar Heels didn't win the ACC Championship.
• This marks the third time that the teams have met in tournaments played at Virginia, with UNC winning 3-1 in 1984 and Duke winning 4-3 in 2003.
• UNC's first-ever ACC Tournament game was against Duke. In the conference's first tournament, in Chapel Hill in 1983, third-seeded Duke advanced to the semifinals with a first-round win over Wake Forest. Top-seeded Carolina opened its ACC Tournament history with a 2-1 win over the Blue Devils and went on to claim the conference crown with a 1-0 win over Maryland.
• This marks just the third time that UNC and Duke have met in the championship game, with the previous meetings in 1990 and 2011, both in College Park, Md. Carolina won both games by 2-1 scores, with the 1990 game decided in overtime.
• In addition to the ACC meetings, UNC and Duke have met four times in NCAA Tournament play, with Carolina winning three of those. Including those games, the Tar Heels lead the postseason series with Duke 17-2.
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