No. 3 Duke to Battle No. 2 North Carolina for ACC Title

ACC Championship Game Info

The Blue Devils and Tar Heels square off for the ACC title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament Friday night at 7 p.m. First hit is set for 7 p.m., on ACC Network.
Admission is free for all fans at Turf Field on Virginia's campus. Parking is free at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Opening Hit

Duke advanced to its first ACC title game since 2011 and its fourth overall with a pair of shutouts (2-0 vs. Wake Forest and 1-0 vs. Louisville). Three different Blue Devils scored for Duke in the two wins.
The Blue Devils are 16-3 overall, which includes eight top-15 wins and five ACC victories. Duke garnered at least a share of the ACC regular season title for the second time in program history.
North Carolina is in search of its 26th ACC title and seventh straight. The Tar Heels defeated Virginia, 3-2, in the semifinals.
The Blue Devils are 4-7 all-time in ACC Tournament action in Charlottesville and 5-3 overall as the No. 2 seed. Duke is in search of its first ACC Championship in program history. The Blue Devils have advanced to three ACC finals, going 0-3.

By the Numbers

4 - Duke appearances in the ACC title game - 1990, 2003, 2011, 2023

160 - Wins for Pam Bustin as the Duke head coach, three shy of surpassing Duke Hall of Fame inductee Jacki Silar's record for wins

274 - Career saves for Piper Hampsch, ranking fifth in Duke single-season history

20-40 - Duke's all-time record in the ACC Tournament

1-14 - Duke's all-time record against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament

8 - Shutouts for the Blue Devils in 2023, the most since the 2003 team had eight

129:27 - Shutout streak for the Blue Devils, dating back to the fourth quarter against North Carolina

3 - Setbacks this season for Duke to nation's current No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 teams

15.3 - Shots per game average for North Carolina this season

8.1 - Shots allowed per game average for Duke in 2023

0.92 - Piper Hampsch's goals against average, leading the ACC and ranking third nationally
2.94 - North Carolina's goals per game average, second in the ACC and 12th nationally

A Win Friday Would

Be Duke's first ACC Field Hockey Championship in program history
Be the Blue Devils' second win over North Carolina in ACC postseason action, a 4-3 victory in 2003 in Charlottesville
Give Duke 17 wins for sixth time in program history and the first time since 2017.
Give Duke 17 wins for the third time under head coach Pam Bustin.
Give Duke 15 wins for the 10th time in school history.

Last Time We Met

Charlie van Oirschot scored off a penalty corner in the 47th minute to give the Blue Devils the 1-0 lead against North Carolina.
UNC answered 26 seconds later to tie the game on a Sanne Hak put-back after a Piper Hampsch save. The Tar Heels went ahead three minutes later and held on to win.

What Gives?

Friday's game features Duke's third-ranked defense against the nation's 12th-ranked offense. The Tar Heels average 2.94 goals per game, while Duke sports a 0.91 goals against average. North Carolina has scored at least three goals in nine of its 16 games and has been held to one goal only by Liberty. In the past three seasons (57 games), UNC has scored one or fewer goals just six times.
On the defensive end for Duke, the Blue Devils have given up multiple goals in five of the 19 contests and own eight shutouts to rank sixth nationally. Since allowing six goals in its opening three games (2.00 GA/gm), Duke has given up 12 in the 16 ensuing games (0.77 GA/gm). UNC was last shut out on Nov. 12, 2021 by Northwestern.

Next Game

The NCAA Tournament selection show will be streamed online at NCAA.com at 10 p.m., Nov. 5. The top four seeds host the first and second rounds with the NCAA semifinals and final to be played in Chapel Hill.

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