No. 8 Duke Closes Regular Season at No. 1 North Carolina

The Opening Pass-Back

Duke closes out its regular season slate at No. 1 North Carolina Friday, Oct. 31. First pass-back is set for 6 p.m., at Karen Shelton Stadium. A win by the Blue Devils secures the No. 4 seed in the ACC Championship.
Duke heads into the weekend ranked eighth in the NFHCA top 20 poll and eighth in the latest edition of the RPI. North Carolina tops both the NFHCA poll and RPI. A win by the Tar Heels coupled with a Wake Forest loss will give them a share of the ACC regular season crown.
Senior Alaina McVeigh and sophomore Julia Boehringer lead the offensive charge with 27 and 19 points, respectively. McVeigh and Boehringer have 10 and seven goals, respectively. Both are dangerous options on penalty corners as well as in open play.
The Blue Devils have seven shutouts this season and have allowed just seven goals in ACC play so far. Duke has given up multiple goals in a game just twice this season - Liberty (4) and Wake Forest (3).

By the Numbers
92 - Career points for junior Alaina McVeigh, tied for 14th in Duke history
0.86 - Duke's goals against average, ranking second in the ACC and fifth nationally
4.12 - North Carolina's goals per game average - first in the ACC and third nationally
18.5 - Shots per game average for the Tar Heels, firing double-digits shots in all but one game
6.2 - Duke's shots allowed per game average, holding 13 of 16 opponents to single digit shots
25 - First-half goals for the Blue Devils this season
4 - Goals allowed by Duke in the first half this season
0.70 - Sophomore goalkeeper Kaiya Chepow's goals against average since allowing four goals against Liberty to open the season
7 - Duke shutouts in 2025, which is second in the ACC and fifth nationally
8 - Goals allowed by Duke on 52 penalty corners – an 85 percent success rate for the Blue Devils' defensive penalty corner unit
15 - Goals scored by Duke on 91 penalty corners

ACC Championship Scenarios

Duke is locked into either the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the upcoming ACC Championship at Louisville. A win Friday by the Blue Devils secures them the No. 4 seed. A loss coupled with a Syracuse win Saturday at Louisville puts Duke at No. 5 and the Orange at No. 4. A loss by Syracuse coupled with a win by Cal gives the Bears the No. 5 seed and a matchup with Duke in the first round Tuesday, Nov. 4.

With One Game Remaining in Regular Season

Duke is 11-5 overall with all five losses coming against current top 10 teams – No. 2 Northwestern (0-1), No. 3 Virginia (0-1, 2OT), No. 6 Wake Forest (1-3), No. 9 Syracuse (0-1) and No. 7 Liberty (3-4). The Blue Devils are 4-3 in conference action.
Defensively, Duke has been outstanding, allowing just 14 goals all season and only 10 in the past 14 outings. The Blue Devils are tied for fifth nationally with seven clean sheets, while their 0.86 goals against average is fifth.
Alaina McVeigh paces the offense with 10 goals and seven assists for 27 points. Right behind her is sophomore Julia Boehringer, who is having a breakout season, with seven goals and five assists for 19 points. She is highly effective on penalty corners. Sophomore Madison Beach has been excellent on set pieces and in open play with a team-best eight assists.

Blue Devils vs. Tar Heels

Duke and North Carolina square off for the 99th time since the first meeting in 1974. The Tar Heels hold a commanding 86-12 lead in the series and have won 12 consecutive.
The Blue Devils last beat North Carolina in 2017, a 3-2 win on Williams Field at Jack Katz Stadium. Duke defeated the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill in 2016 - a 3-0 victory.

What Gives?

When Duke and North Carolina meet Friday it will be a battle between one of the nation's top defensive teams in the Blue Devils and one of the best offensive teams in the Tar Heels.
UNC ranks second nationally in scoring offense with 4.12 goals per game. Duke is fifth nationally in scoring defense, with a 0.86 goals against average. Duke has seven shutouts and the Tar Heels have not been shut out yet this season. North Carolina has not been shut out since Nov. 12, 2021.

A Win Friday Would

Be Pam Bustin's 187th at Duke and 349th overall
Make Duke 5-3 in ACC play
Give Bustin her 41st ACC victory

Milestones to Watch
Alaina McVeigh | F | Junior

92 career points
- T-15th in Duke history
- One of 16 players with at least 90 points
- 10 points from becoming Duke's 13th 100-point scorer

40 career goals
- 13th in Duke history
- Three away from moving into the top 10

Pam Bustin | Head Coach

186 Duke wins
- The most by a Duke field hockey head coach
348 career wins
- Rank fifth among active Division I head coaches
- Two shy of becoming 27th coach across all three divisions and 13th Division I leader to reach 350 wins
Rank 11th among active head coaches across all divisions
Rank 28th all-time among field hockey coaches across all three divisions
Rank 13th all-time among Division I head coaches