Duke Tops North Carolina 2-1 To Advance To Second Straight Final Four

Nov. 14, 2004

Box Score

The No. 4 Duke Blue Devils edged No. 1 North Carolina, 2-1, Sunday afternoon in a second round NCAA field hockey tournament matchup at Francis E. Henry Stadium. With the win, the Blue Devils improves to 17-4 overall and advance to the Final Four for the second consecutive season. Duke will face Michigan State on Friday in Winston-Salem, N.C., in national semifinals.

North Carolina, which finishes its season 21-2 overall, got off to a fast start with the game's first goal, on a penalty corner 10 minutes into the action. Sophomore Rachel Dawson's direct shot was assisted by sophomore Brooke Miller on the push-out and senior Laura Douglas on the stick stop.

Duke evened the score at the 20:38 mark on a penalty stroke. Senior Johanna Bischof slipped a shot into the bottom left corner of the net past Carolina goalkeeper Katy Tran. The goal was Bischof's ninth of the season with the North Vancouver, B.C., native a perfect 5-of-5 on penalty strokes this season.

The Blue Devils took the lead with 17:25 remaining in the game when senior Chrissie Murphy scored on an assist from sophomore Amy Stopford to put the visitors up 2-1. Stopford collected a rebounded shot off the North Carolina goalie and found Murphy open on the far post for the goal. Murphy now has a career-high 18 goals this year, including three goals in Duke's two NCAA Tournament victories.

The Tar Heels had the statistical advantage with 14 shots to the Blue Devils' five and six corners to Duke's four, but the Blue Devil defense came up big throughout the second half. North Carolina drew four consecutive corners after Duke went a man-down following a yellow card but failed to get the game-tying goal. Christy Morgan saved five shots in goal for Duke, while Bischof also had several important clears inside the circle.

With the win, Duke head coach Beth Bozman improves to 18-9 (.667) in NCAA Tournament play with six Final Four appearances. In two seasons with the Blue Devils, Bozman is 5-1 (.833) in the NCAA Tournament with two trips to the national semifinals.

The victory at Francis E. Henry Stadium also marked the first Blue Devil road win over North Carolina since the 1981 season and the second road victory all-time against the Tar Heels.

Duke also recaptured a half point in the Carlyle Cup standings with the victory. The Carlyle Cup is an annual all-sport competition between Duke and the University of North Carolina. Carlyle & Company, a Greensboro, North Carolina based jeweler with 38 stores across the country including 12 in North Carolina, supports the competition. The annual winner retains and prominently displays the Carlyle Cup each year. The TAG Trophy is given annually to the most valuable athlete in the Carlyle Cup competition between the two schools. North Carolina currently leads the competition 4.5 to 3.5 heading into this weekend Duke-North Carolina football game.