No. 2 Duke Falls at No. 3 UNC, 15-12

Sunday, May 2

Chapel Hill, NC

4 P.M.

Duke University

12-2, 4-2ACC

North Carolina

11-2, 4-2ACC

Duke University

North Carolina

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 2 Duke Falls at No. 3 UNC, 15-12

5/2/2021 7:54:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Third-ranked North Carolina outscored No .2 Duke 7-0 in the second quarter and held off a second-half comeback effort by the Blue Devils to secure a 15-12 victory in front of 4,050 fans at Kenan Stadium Sunday afternoon.

The Blue Devils and Tar Heels shared the ACC men's lacrosse title with both squads finishing the regular season with 4-2 marks in league action. It is Duke's first ACC regular season title since 2014. Duke falls to 12-2 overall, while North Carolina improves to 11-2.

Michael Sowers paced the Duke offense with a goal and a season-high tying six assists. Dyson Williams had a hat trick and four points overall, while rookie Brennan O'Neill also threw in three goals.
Duke and North Carolina traded goals in the opening quarter with the Blue Devils answering the Tar Heels' quick 2-0 start with four straight for a 4-2 advantage with 2:08 left in the period. North Carolina pulled within one with a marker from William Perry with 33 seconds remaining.

Owen Caputo led the charge in the first quarter with two goals, while Sowers had a goal and an assist in the 4-0 stretch. Caputo finished the day with two goals on three shots.

The Tar Heel offense caught fire in the second quarter, outscoring Duke 7-0 to take a 10-4 lead into halftime. North Carolina won 7-of-8 faceoffs and outshot the Blue Devils 22-4 in the quarter. Mike Adler made five saves in the quarter, including a couple point-blank stops.

North Carolina senior Chris Gray registered three goals and an assist to key the run as the Tar Heels scored three times in a span of 2:09 late in the second period to break open the game, 10-4. Gray ended the game with three goals and three assists.

After the Tar Heels went up 11-4 early in the third, Duke ended its scoreless drought at 20:17 with a goal from Williams. Sowers provided the assist, pulling Duke within six.

Williams' goal gave the Blue Devils an emotional lift and rookie faceoff specialist Jake Naso started to get into a rhythm, allowing Duke to score three of the game's next four goals to make it 12-7 after three periods. Naso won the battle at the X in the third quarter 4-2 and O'Neill scored twice.

Needing a fourth quarter comeback similar to the one against Notre Dame the week prior, Williams and Sowers connected again to start the fourth quarter, making it 12-8. Williams caught a pass from Sowers on the crease and threw in a behind-the-back goal to the delight of the crowd. It was the closest Duke had been since it was 8-4 in the second quarter.

While the Blue Devils were fighting back, North Carolina always seemed to have an answer. Henry Schertzinger scored unassisted to bring it to 13-8 before Duke junior Garrett Leadmon made it a four-goal game again. Schertzinger had two for the Tar Heels on the afternoon.

Two of the nation's top offenses traded goals before Duke senior Joe Robertson dropped in his second of the day to cut the UNC advantage to three, 15-12, with 1:43 remaining. But despite the great second-half effort, the Blue Devils couldn't overcome the second quarter explosion from the Tar Heels.

In goal, Adler finished with 12 saves. Collin Krieg had 11 saves for the Tar Heels. Naso finished his day 15-of-27 in faceoffs as North Carolina won the battle by a narrow 16-15 margin. UNC won the ground ball battle 37-22, including 13-1 in the second quarter, and outshot Duke 50-39.

Duke will have a two-week break before opening NCAA Tournament action May 15 or 16. The selection show will take place, May 9, on ESPNU at 9 p.m.

#GoDuke