The Blue Devils had the perfect opportunity to close out their regular season on the right note.
Duke could have taken down conference rival North Carolina in its season finale and entered the ACC Tournament with some much-needed momentum, as it did last year, when the team crushed Davidson 17-5 before making a run to the conference tournament final.
Although the No. 4 Blue Devils (11-4, 2-3 in the ACC) had hopes of repeating a similar feat against the Tarheels, North Carolina had other plans and was not about to let Duke edge out a victory on the Tarheels’ home field.
No. 2 North Carolina (12-1, 4-1) defeated Duke 9-6 Wednesday night in the final conference game of the regular season schedule for both teams. The Tarheels’ win at Fetzer Field narrowed the all-time series to 12-11, with the Blue Devils still holding the lead.
Duke came to Chapel Hill with high intensity and controlled the game’s tempo for the first half as the team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Captain Lindsay Gilbride put the Blue Devils on the board first on a score assisted by junior Christie Kaestner with 21:44 left in the period. Junior midfielder Sarah Bullard added another tally just a few minutes later on a free position shot.
Duke continued to maintain its dominance over North Carolina for most of the period until Tarheel forward Becky Lynch scored two goals in a 15-second span with six minutes left in the half.
Kaestner quickly responded with an unassisted score of her own and put her team up 3-2 at halftime. The Tarheels, however, had already regained some of the game’s momentum and didn’t look back.
After the break, North Carolina came out firing and scored six unanswered goals. The Blue Devils’ defense, which played an incredibly strong first half against a team that averages over 16 goals per contest, could not keep up with the Tarheels’ offensive adjustments.
Lynch, who leads North Carolina with 18 assists this year, took a more aggressive approach in last night’s contest as she added a third score for a hat trick during her team’s offensive outburst.
With the Tarheels up 8-3 and only 10:38 left in the game, sophomore forward Kat Thomas put on an impressive showcase by scoring a hat trick of her own in the remaining time. Although she put forth a valiant effort in the game’s last minutes, her team could not match the offensive prowess and aggression of rival North Carolina.
The loss concludes the regular season for Duke, and the team will start postseason play on April 22 for the ACC Tournament.
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