DURHAM, N.C. — The No. 6 North Carolina women’s lacrosse team (12-3, 7-2 ACC) wrapped up its regular season with a 13-12 win over Duke (7-9, 1-8 ACC) at Koskinen Stadium on Thursday evening.
What happened?
Duke attacker Eva Greco got the Blue Devils on the board first four minutes into the game, but UNC senior midfielder Olivia Dirks responded two minutes later with a solo score. Duke attacker Maddie Jenner answered right back with an unassisted goal to put the Blue Devils up 2-1.
A huge save by Duke first-year goalkeeper Madison Drebing led to Duke midfielder Katie Keller dancing her way in for a solo goal. Keller then converted a free position shot and UNC head coach Jenny Levy called timeout.
Dirks had a promising right side look towards the end of the first quarter but Drebing picked up another save. With 2.9 seconds left, Greco notched her second goal to put Duke up 5-1 heading into the second frame.
UNC redshirt sophomore attacker Reilly Casey found the back of the net early in the second quarter and less than a minute later, junior midfielder Alyssa Long connected on a goal to trim the deficit to two goals. Jenner lasered in a shot midway through the quarter to extend Duke’s lead to 6-3.
The Tar Heels forced consecutive shot clock violations to slow Duke’s momentum as halftime approached, with first-year midfielder Kaleigh Harden sneaking in a goal. Long fired a shot into the back of the cage as time expired and UNC trailed 5-6 at halftime.
UNC senior attacker Melissa Sconone evened the game up three minutes into the third quarter and the Tar Heels took their first lead of the night when Casey found Sconone for another goal. The Blue Devils scored on a man-down opportunity from defender Maddie Johnston, tying it at 7-7 midway through the third frame.
The back-and-forth quarter continued as Jenner and UNC junior attacker Caitlyn Wurzburger traded scores. Jenner then found attacker Caroline DeBellis for a goal, but Long answered with a score to complete a hat trick. Graduate attacker Lauren Figura capped off the third quarter with a goal and North Carolina led 10-9.