DURHAM — All game, Duke goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea had come up with saves when the No. 5 Blue Devils needed them, but it was a final stop from North Carolina’s Lauren Maksym that sealed a 12-11 overtime win for the No. 3 UNC women’s lacrosse team.
Duke attacker Makenzie Hommel surged through the middle of the eight-meter arc and fired a shot on goal, where Maksym was there to deflect the shot.
“I wasn’t making all the saves throughout the game, but I knew I had to make that one,” Maksym said. “We had a game plan, we executed it, and I just stepped out hard to the shot and made the save when I needed it.”
Maksym made the save of the game, but Duryea was relentless in the loss, denying the Tar Heels 15 times on 33 shots.
UNC’s leading scorer, Kara Cannizzaro struggled in the first half, beating Duryea just once on five shots.
“I’m pretty sure I was passing to her half the game. She was awesome,” Cannizzaro said. “She was coming up with off-stick hip saves. She played phenomenal.”
After the break, Cannizzaro found the back of the net three more times, including a go-ahead goal with 3:30 left in overtime.
Starting from behind the cage, the senior midfielder spun past a defender and scored while falling down to give UNC its eighth win against Duke in 10 meetings.
“I pulled inside, and I saw the flag go up for a push in the back, so if I went in the crease it still counted, so I said ‘Why not,’” Cannizzaro said.
UNC dominated time of possession in the overtime period by winning all three draw controls.
Sound passing kept the ball with UNC throughout overtime until an errant pass off the stick of Abbey Friend and out of bounds gave possession to Duke with 50 seconds left in overtime.
After Maksym’s save, the Blue Devils retained possession but turned the ball over without a shot when Maddy Morrissey was called for a charge, which allowed UNC to run out the clock.
Coach Jenny Levy said her team improved its play in the second half and made the tough plays it needed down the stretch.
“We hung on,” Levy said. “We had 50 seconds to hang on to get the stop, and I was proud of my defense to get the charge call.”
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