Unable to carry the momentum it established from an easy victory against Boston College in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, No. 4 Duke fell to No. 1 North Carolina 14-4 Friday in College Park, Md., ending the Blue Devils’ run for their first tournament title since 2005.
“Clearly, looking at the score, it wasn’t a good day for us,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “We really did not play up to our ability, and we’re overall disappointed in that game.”
This marks the second time the Blue Devils (12-5) fell to the Tar Heels (14-1) this season, losing 9-6 in a home contest April 14. Kimel attributed the first loss to the players’ inability to finish their shots despite generating plenty of scoring opportunities.
This time around, however, Duke’s problem was not only that it didn’t follow through on its shots. It lacked basic fundamentals, Kimel said.
“We definitely didn’t finish well again, but we also didn’t generate the same kinds of opportunities that we did the first game, and really, we just weren’t fundamentally sound in the way we executed our offense,” she said. “Defensively we gave up entirely too much to [North Carolina], and I think that’s reflected in the box score.”
The Tar Heels netted a goal in the first two minutes of the game and went on a 7-0 run over the next 17 minutes to end the half at 8-1, never giving the Blue Devils a chance to retaliate.
The second half continued on a similar note, with North Carolina making five straight goals and leading 13-1 halfway through the period, though Duke was able to make three consecutive goals to reduce the score difference.
“It was a big difficulty for us to be behind by so much during the game,” Kimel said. “It felt really good coming off of the Boston College game [which the Blue Devils won 17-6], but we have a couple of weeks to really regroup and work hard before our last season game against Brown.”
Playing their last regular season game at home against Brown May 9 without Kimel—who is expected to be at the hospital giving birth to her new baby—the Blue Devils are hoping to finish their season on a winning note before jumping into the NCAA tournament a week later. The team is taking these next two weeks to rest and reach top form for upcoming postseason competition.
“I think we still have a lot of room to grow and improve, and for Brown, I think what will be exciting for me is seeing two weeks of hard work out there,” Kimel said. “We haven’t really had this long of a break in games for a long time, and we want to focus on certain fundamentals, of course, but also try and incorporate new things into the offensive and defensive parts of our game. I think overall you’re looking to improve and get better and to strive to reach that higher potential moving into the NCAA tournament.”
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