Tar Heels Avenge Loss To Blue Devils, Win 12-11

Friday, April 27

Chapel Hill, N.C.

3 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Blue Devils Look To Rebound Against Tigers On Sunday

Tar Heels Avenge Loss To Blue Devils, Win 12-11

4/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- No. 5 North Carolina (15-3) evened the score this season against No. 3 Duke (13-3) on Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, winning the second one-goal game between the two teams in eight days. The game was oddly similar to the contest the two teams played in Durham last Friday night, except that it was played in Chapel Hill at UNC's Fetzer Field and the Tar Heels came out the victor, 12-11.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle, featuring an offensive explosion in the first seven minutes and a defensive struggle for the remainder. Duke's senior attacker Leigh Jester led all scorers in the first stanza with two goals and one assist. Each team took a two-goal lead at one point in the first half and there were four ties and three lead changes. Seven goals were scored in the game's first 6:35, when North Carolina held a 4-3 advantage, but only five more goals were tallied before halftime and the score was knotted 6-6. The Tar Heels showed no signs of fatigue despite having played a game in the heat on Thursday afternoon in the tournament's first round.

The second half would be more of the same, with North Carolina scoring the first two goals of the half before Duke started the trading of the next four goals. That left the Heels with a 10-8 lead with 17:14 remaining. UNC's senior attacker Christina Juras and freshman Kristen Taylor would both notch their second and third goals in that stretch. The Blue Devils tied the game on two consecutive goals, including the second for senior midfielder Rachel Sanford on the day, but Carolina would quickly take a two-goal lead back with 10:19 on the clock.

Duke would score once more as Jester hit paydirt for the third time with 8:59 remaining, but the Tar Heels would hold onto the ball for more than eight of the remaining minutes to seal the victory. Duke had two opportunities with the ball in the last three minutes, but wound up with only one saved shot and two turnovers to show for it. It was a reverse situation of last week's final minutes when the Devils held out to win.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kim Imbesi had another strong start with 13 saves on the day. The defense kept Duke in the game throughout, but the offense never really got it together as they seemingly have done all season. It did not help that North Carolina out-shot Duke, 32-24, and won the draw control battle, 16-9.

Junior attacker Caroline Cryer was held to one goal for only the second time this season, with the first time being on Feb. 23 versus Richmond. Cryer has 53 goals on the season and leads the ACC with a 3.31 per game clip. She was named to the All-ACC team earlier this week.

Senior attacker Kristen Waagbo scored two goals and added two assists on Friday afternoon, but was held to 2-for-7 shooting. Waagbo has had one of the best individual seasons in Duke's history. She leads the ACC and is ninth in the NCAA with 4.63 points per game and with 2.25 assists per game. Waagbo broke her own record for assists in one season at Duke and now has 36, and also broke the career assists' record and currently has 108. That total is fourth on the all-time ACC list. Waagbo is a Tewaaraton Trophy semifinalist and was named to the All-ACC team for the second year in a row on Thursday.

Duke now leads the series between the two schools, 11-8. Seven of the last eight contests and 11 games overall between Duke and North Carolina have been decided by two goals or less.

“It was a typical Duke-North Carolina game and they just edged us,” said Head Coach Kerstin Kimel after the game. “I think last week's game was a game of inches and today was a similar game to last week. Carolina had the edge today and we had the edge last week. We had missed opportunities and chances that we didn't capitalize on.”

North Carolina advances to the tournament final to face the winner of the No. 4 seed Virginia/ No. 1 seed Maryland contest. Duke evened its record against top-five teams this season to 3-3 and is 9-3 against ranked opponents.

The Carlyle Cup race between Duke and North Carolina is now tied 13 to 13. The Blue Devils need 13.5 points to win back the Cup from the Tar Heels. For that to happen, the Duke men's lacrosse team needs to win tonight to hold onto their one point and the women's lacrosse and/or women's tennis team need to draw North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament and defeat them to win back one half point. The Duke men's tennis team must also not lose to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament if they draw them to hold onto their point.

The Blue Devils will host No. 18 Dartmouth on Sun., May 6 at 12 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium. That game is part of the second doubleheader with the Duke men's lacrosse team this season. The Blue Devil men will face off against Air Force at 3 p.m. that day.

-d-u-k-e-