COLLEGE PARK, Md. - With just over 19 minutes left to play in Saturday's first semifinal game, it looked as if the women's lacrosse team was on its way to its first ACC tournament win ever.
Unfortunately for No. 4 seed Duke (9-3), top-seed North Carolina had other plans.
The Tar Heels (10-4) scored the final four goals of the game, including a hat trick from Kristen Off, to knock off the Blue Devils 7-6 on a chilly afternoon at Maryland's Ludwig Field. It was the third consecutive game in the rivalry decided by one goal.
"I have to give Carolina a ton of credit," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "They certainly played with a lot more heart in the second half, and they didn't play scared.
"We didn't take care of the ball well.... In tight games, we tend to back off in the second half for whatever reason, and our offense was really out of sync today."
Duke controlled most of the first half and scored on a Kelly Dirks drive 4:26 into the second half to extend its lead to 6-3. After a few missed opportunities by the Tar Heels and a number of point-blank saves by goalie Shannon Chaney, it looked like Carolina might be heading home early.
But when Off tossed a shot just over Chaney's shoulder to cut the Blue Devil lead to 6-4, the comeback was on.
"The biggest adjustment we needed to make was that we needed to execute better on the offensive end," UNC coach Jenny Slingluff-Levy said. "We felt like we had some opportunities early, and we just didn't do a good job catching and passing and finishing."
Duke missed numerous opportunities to regain the momentum and bump the lead back to three but was unable to convert near the net.
With 10:48 to play, Erin McInnes rippled the mesh on a free position shot, and the lead was down to one.
The Tar Heel momentum could not be slowed, as Off connected on a bounce shot that caromed just out of Chaney's reach and sneaked into the top of the net to knot the score 6-6 with 5:18 remaining.
Just 1:24 later, UNC's Julie Kickham picked up a ground ball and sped down the right sideline past the Duke defenders. She then found Off cutting in front of the net for the go-ahead score.
"It was an unsettled situation, and Julie Kickham made a great pass inside," Off said. "It was nothing designed; it just kind of happened with everything unsettled in transition."
The drama increased even more when Tricia Martin earned a free position opportunity with 2:30 left to play and the score still 7-6. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, the referees forced an anti-climactic ending to the excitement, as Martin was called for an early start before her shot found the back of the net.
Carolina received possession of the ball following the call and eluded the Duke defenders until the final horn sounded.
The Tar Heels opened the game quickly, as Meghann Mohler took the opening draw and scored just seven seconds into the contest. It was the fastest score to start a game in UNC history.
After the Tar Heels scored again for a 2-0 lead, Kate Kaiser forced a shot past UNC goalie Melissa Coyne to get Duke on the board. A mere 14 seconds later, Lauren Gallagher converted on a miscue by Coyne and tied the score at 2-2.
Kaiser scored her second goal of the game with 7:09 to go until halftime to give Duke a 4-3 lead. Three minutes later, Kaiser found Claire Finn cutting in front of the cage to extend the Blue Devil advantage to 5-3.
The Duke defense played solidly throughout the game, holding the Tar Heels scoreless for 32 minutes during one stretch. Chaney made two saves on free position shots and a plethora of stops from less than five feet.
"I did my best to get my body in front of the ball every time," Chaney said. "They scored some really nice goals.... The momentum definitely shifted to their side when they started to score some goals."
It was the Duke offense, however, that prevented the team from advancing to Sunday's championship game. The Blue Devils were held scoreless for the final 25:34 of the game by the pesky Tar Heel defense.
Notes: Maryland, ranked No. 1 in the nation, won its second straight ACC tournament by handily defeating UNC 17-6.... Jen Adams, the tournament MVP, scored six goals and dished out two assists in the contest.... Duke's Shannon Chaney and Claire Sullivan were named to the All-tournament team.
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