No. 17 Duke Takes Down No. 3 North Carolina, 16-12

Saturday, April 25

Chapel Hill, NC

12 p.m.

Duke University

9-4, 1-3

North Carolina

11-3, 2-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Duke	4	7	4	1	16
North Carolina	2	1	5	4	12

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 17 Duke Takes Down No. 3 North Carolina, 16-12

4/25/2026 4:08:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Three Blue Devils registered hat tricks and Buck Cunningham made 12 saves to lead 17th-ranked Duke to a commanding 16-12 victory over No. 3 North Carolina in ACC men's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Dorrance Field.

Senior Max Sloat led Duke (9-4, 1-3 ACC) with four goals, while Kyle Colsey and Brady Scioletti notched three apiece. All four of Sloat's goals came in the second quarter as Duke built an 11-3 halftime lead.

Defensively, senior Charlie Johnson was outstanding with two caused turnovers, two ground balls and a goal while holding North Carolina leading scorer Owen Duffy to two goals. Johnson held Duffy to four shots overall and both of his goals came with two minutes remaining in the contest.

How it Happened

Duke jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind the playmaking of Michael Ortlieb. The rookie attackman put the Blue Devils up 1-0 on a textbook transition goal started by an Aidan Maguire ground ball and clear.
Less than a minute later, it was Ortlieb finding Colsey on a cut to the crease for the 2-0 lead. Duke made it 3-0 at the 12:07 mark with a behind-the-back goal from Thomas Mencke. Ortlieb provided the assist again.
Spurred by Cal Girard's success at the faceoff dot, Duke continued to suffocate the Tar Heels in holding North Carolina to just one shot in the first 10 minutes.
Colsey made it 4-0 on a stellar individual dodge from behind the cage with six minutes left in the first quarter.
North Carolina scored twice in the final two minutes to make it a 4-2 contest at the end of the first period. Cunningham made his first save of the game in the final second, keeping the Tar Heels from pulling within one.
Duke's midfield got into the mix in the second quarter as Sloat scored three times in the first 10:32 of the quarter and tacked on a fourth with three seconds left. Benn Johnston squeezed one in as well, giving Duke an 8-3 lead 10 minutes into the stanza.
Cunningham shined in the second quarter with five saves to anchor the defense. The stalwart group also provided fireworks on offense as Johnson beat North Carolina's 10-man ride with a goal from half field. Colsey completed his first-half hat trick before Sloat added his fourth of the afternoon for an 11-3 halftime lead.
North Carolina scored three of the first four goals of the third quarter to make it six-goal game, 12-6. The Blue Devils stayed steady and responded with three of the next four to go back up by eight, 15-7. Scioletti had a third-quarter hat trick to pace the Duke offense and Liam Kershis added the fourth to send Duke into the final 15 minutes with a 15-8 advantage.
The Tar Heels chipped away at Duke's lead in the fourth quarter on goals from Dominic Pietramala and Luke Bair, but the Blue Devils' lead was too much to overcome. Kershis netted Duke's lone goal in the quarter before Duffy got two late for North Carolina.
Girard was outstanding at the faceoff, going 10-of-23 against the nation's No. 2 draw man in Brady Wambach. He picked up seven ground balls on his 10 wins. Duke won the ground ball battle, 31-25, and both teams finished with 14 turnovers apiece.

Team Notes

Duke improves to 146-81(.643) against top-20 opponents and to 41-35 (.539) against top-five foes under head coach John Danowski. Today's win over North Carolina marked the first against a top-five team with the Blue Devils ranked outside of the top 10 since April 29, 2016 - a 10-9 overtime win over Notre Dame.
The 16 goals are the most North Carolina has allowed all season and the most since the Tar Heels let in 18 against Notre Dame in 2023.
Duke held North Carolina to 37 shots – tied for the fewest this season and 12 under its season average of 49 per game.
The Blue Devils held the nation's No. 2 faceoff man in Brady Wambach to 18-of-31 (.580) at the dot. The 58-percent success rate was the third lowest by Wambach this season. Entering the game, Wambach was winning 67 percent of his faceoffs. Against Duke, he wins just 59 percent of his restarts.
Duke's 34-percent shooting against North Carolina is the highest this season against an ACC foe and the fourth best against a conference foe since 2023.

Individual Notes

Max Sloat registered four goals in the second quarter, marking the first time a Blue Devil has scored four in a period since Dyson Williams in 2024. It is his sixth hat trick this season and the 10th of his career.
Kyle Colsey posted his fifth career hat trick and Brady Scioletti had his third three-goal effort.
Cal Girard won at least 10 faceoffs for the eighth time this season and for the 10th time in his career. His seven ground balls marked the ninth time this season and 14th time overall he has picked up at least five GBs.
Buck Cunningham posted 12 saves for his second consecutive double-digit save outing. In two career starts, Cunningham has 27 saves and 19 goals allowed for a .587 save percentage and a 9.50 goals against average.
Thomas Mencke scored the first goal of the game. It was his first goal since Feb. 21 and just the fifth this season.