Duke Drops Back-And-Forth Contest To No. 4 UNC

Friday, April 17

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Duke Drops Back-And-Forth Contest To No. 4 UNC

4/17/2009 10:15:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? The No. 5 Duke women's lacrosse team couldn't hang onto a 5-4 halftime lead, dropping Friday night's close contest to fourth-ranked North Carolina, 9-7, at Koskinen Stadium.

The game was knotted at seven apiece with just over six minutes to play before UNC scored the game's final two goals to seal the win over the Blue Devils. Duke managed just two goals in the second half of play after taking the one-goal lead into halftime. The game saw the lead change hands three times and was tied four times.

Duke is now 10-4 (3-2 in the ACC) while Carolina improves to 12-3 (4-1).

With the win, UNC clinches the No. 2 seed for the upcoming ACC Tournament, while the Blue Devils will be the three seed. Undefeated Maryland snagged the top spot last weekend, to go along with the regular-season conference title. The official tournament seeding will be announced following the games scheduled for Sunday.

Duke also loses a Carlyle Cup point to the Tar Heels, who now lead the yearlong competition by a score of 12.5-8.5 with just a few match-ups left to go. The Carlyle Cup is a series that tracks the Duke-UNC rivalry and is sponsored by Carlyle & Co., of Greensboro, N.C.

“I told the girls after the game that I thought they played really hard and stuck to the game plan,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “We just didn't finish our shots in the second half. Two goals in any half is not good enough for us and, while I'll have to watch the film again, I think at times we didn't take the best shot available, but also their goalie [Logan Ripley] came up with some great saves tonight.”

Carolina took an early 2-0 lead with a pair for Russell at 27:17 and 22:43, before Cryer and Kachulis scored to tie it with 20:19 left in the first. Davis and Bullard kick-started the Blue Devil attack late in the first half to give Duke the lead which it would carry into the locker rooms at 5-4.

But UNC came out firing, netting the first three after the break to re-establish the Tar Heels out in front at 7-5 with 16:23 to go in the game. Davis and Gilbride would chip in back-to-back goals over a two-minute span midway through, but those would be Duke's only scorers of the second frame as UNC was able to keep the momentum.

Megan Bosica scored the go-ahead goal off a free position chance at 6:02 before Taylor added to the lead with 4:11 to play. Duke would try for a late chance but couldn't convert as the Heels hung on for the two-goal road win.

On Duke's side in the net, senior netminder Kim Imbesi made 12 saves, which is the second-most she has recorded in a game this year after stopping 13 vs. Denver to start the 2009 season.

In the scoring column, Sarah Bullard and Carolyn Davis had two goals for Duke, which Caroline Cryer, Lindsay Gilbride, and Danielle Kachulis each had one. The Blue Devil defense was able to limit UNC's biggest threats in the game, keeping leading-scorer Jenn Russell to just two goals and second-leading scorer Kristen Taylor to one. Russell and Becky Lynch led the way with two each for the Tar Heels.

Caroline Spearman caused three UNC turnovers, grabbed three ground balls and won two draw for Duke. Hamm added four ground balls and Cryer won a game-high five draws.

The Blue Devils out-shot UNC by a tally of 30-27 in the game and won 11 draws to the Heels' seven but were unable to capitalize on key chances to take over.

Duke was without attacker Megan Del Monte for the second straight game, and missed one of its top defenders in Christina Germinario, as each sat out with injuries.

The Blue Devils will get a chance at the rebound this Sunday when they travel to take on the 5-8 Davidson Wildcats on Sunday, April 19 at 1 p.m. in Davidson, N.C. The Wildcats most recently fell, 9-5, to American last Sunday. The team is led by Jen Crawford's 24 goals and four assists, and Haley Cook's 19 goals and four assists.

Duke then heads for the 2009 ACC Tournament in Blacksburg, Va., before rounding out the regular-season slate against Dartmouth on Sunday, May 3, at home at 12 p.m. That game will be Senior Night for the program's seven seniors.

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