DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke and North Carolina rivalry did not disappoint as the top-ranked Tar Heels and No. 8 Blue Devils came down to the wire Friday evening. The Tar Heels came away with a narrow 12-11 victory in Koskinen Stadium as North Carolina's Ally Mastroianni scored the game winning goal with 17 seconds remaining.
With the setback, the Blue Devils drop to 9-6 overall and 4-6 in conference play, while the Tar Heels remain undefeated.
The Blue Devils were led by sophomore
Olivia Carner, who scored a career-high four goals, followed by
Gabby Rosenzweig with four points off of two goals and two assists. Duke's scoring is rounded out by
Catherine Cordrey (1),
Katie DeSimone (1),
Maddie Jenner (1),
Catriona Barry (1) and
Abby Landry (1).
The Tar Heels dominated the first half as they outscored the Blue Devils 8-3. North Carolina got rolling quickly, scoring two goals in less than a minute and a half to take the early lead before Rosenzweig found the back of the cage at 26:20 (2-1). The Tar Heels would tack on six unanswered goals before Duke added two goals at the end of the half, as Rosenzweig found Landry and Carner scored an unassisted goal with 20 seconds remaining. At intermission, the Tar Heels held an 8-3 lead from 10 shots on goal.
The halftime pep talk did wonders for the Blue Devils who came out on fire, scoring three goals in under two minutes to cut North Carolina's lead to just two (8-6) with 28 minutes remaining. Duke outscored North Carolina 8-4 in the second half and dominated possession, starting with the draw circle.
Duke won 12 of the 13 second half draw controls as Jenner brought in eight of them in a dominant showing to help control the offense. Duke's defense also held North Carolina without a goal for 16 minutes.
Carner connected on back-to-back goals 30 seconds apart to pull within one (9-8) with 20 minutes remaining. Rosenzweig tied the contest up at 9-9 with her second score of the game at 16:48 left. The Tar Heels answered with two of their own, including a man-up opportunity, to regain a two-goal lead. Carner and Cordrey traded goals for the Blue Devils in a 30 second span to once again tie the contest (11-11).
North Carolina's Ally Mastroianni tallied her third goal of the day on a ground ball just in front of the cage with 17 seconds remaining to seal the deal.
Duke's defense was top notch this evening, led by
Maddie Johnston,
Cubby Biscardi,
Natalie Kahn,
Katie Cosgrove and
Callie Humphrey. Duke held North Carolina to its second lowest goal total of the year, a team that leads the nation in scoring margin (10.71). Duke is just the second team this season to hold North Carolina to a one goal victory.
In goal for Duke was
Sophia LeRose who picked up seven saves.
Friday also marked Senior Day for several Blue Devils. The Duke women's lacrosse program recognized graduate students
Catherine Cordrey,
Sam DeBellis,
Callie Humphrey and
Gabby Rosenzweig along with seniors
Catriona Barry,
Katie Cosgrove,
Katie Cronin,
Madison Dunk,
Chase Henriquez,
Natalie Kahn,
Abby Landry,
Mary Markwordt and
Gigi Vasile.
The Tar Heels were led by Caitlyn Wurzburger with six points from five goals and an assist. Duke limited the Tar Heels' second-leading scorer in Katie Hoeg to just one goal.
Duke will now turn its attention to the postseason, first with the ACC Tournament slated for April 28, 29 and May 2 in Chapel Hill.
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#GoDuke