Women's lax takes ACC crown

BALTIMORE — What a difference one year can make.

In last year’s ACC Championship game, Virginia (13-4, 4-2 in the ACC) handed Duke one of its worst losses in program history: a disheartening and disappointing 17-7 rout.

But in a finals rematch Sunday, the Blue Devils (14-3, 5-1) mounted a strong enough offensive performance and clamped down on the Cavaliers’ attackers to win their first ever ACC Championship, 9-6, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md.

“This is something we haven’t had—we haven’t had an ACC Championship,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “We agreed together, 40 of us or however many of us there are, that we were going to do everything we had to do today to make it a reality. So I could not be prouder of the effort our kids put out on the field today.”

Kristen Waagbo and Rachel Sanford each recorded hat tricks as Duke never trailed in the game. Junior Katie Chrest, who scored two goals and added an assist, earned Tournament MVP honors.

But the defense was the key to Sunday’s victory. The Cavalier trio of 2004 Tewaaraton Trophy winner Amy Appelt, Tyler Leachman and Cary Chasney came into the game averaging nearly eight goals per contest between them. The Duke defense honed in on those three, and the trio did not find the back of the net a single time, shooting a combined 0-for-14. Goalie Megan Huether recorded 11 saves.

“I think that says an awful lot about our defensive unit,” Kimel said. “The whole unit knew what we were trying to stop. We were trying to make Virginia do other things to have to beat us.”

Senior Caline McHenry, tabbed by Kimel as the team’s best match-up defender, turned in a remarkable defense performance. Assigned the difficult task of marking Appelt, who had scored 45 goals before entering the finals this season, McHenry became the first player ever to hold the senior scoreless at either the collegiate or high school level.

“From the beginning we knew it was going to take patience on attack,” Chrest said. “I think as the game wore on and Virginia gained a little bit of momentum, we realized we had to grab a little bit of that back. And really the only true way to do that was taking the ball, and holding it and saying, ‘We’re in charge here, this is our game, and we’re going to dictate.’”

Virginia forced a turnover with less than three minutes remaining and regained possession with the chance to cut the lead to one. But just as she had all day, McHenry came up with a big stop against Appelt, who was whistled for a charging foul. It all but sealed the game for the Blue Devils who added an insurance goal less than a minute later.

“It’s kind of hard to describe,” Huether said of her emotion as the clock ticked down. “We’ve been working for this all year and to be up by three against a team like Virginia is an amazing feeling, and it doesn’t happen often.”

Duke defeated North Carolina Friday in the semifinals 8-6 to advance to Sunday’s final, with Chrest and sophomore Leigh Jester leading the way with three goals apiece.

For the Blue Devils, the league title ends a long streak of frustration in the ACC Championships, including a 3-8 overall record and two losses in their previous final-game appearances.

“We walked down the hall and I said, ‘They’re going to feel a lot differently about this right now than they will in about five years removed from it,’” Kimel said. “It’s going to mean so much, it’s a little surreal, and I think we have to recognize this is not our only goal this year. Our goal is to get to Annapolis and to be successful there.”