Duke defeats Syracuse in NCAA tournament first round
By Daniel Carp | May 12, 2012
The Tobacco Road rivalry moved north to Charlottesville, Va. this weekend as Duke defeated North Carolina to claim the ACC crown.
After trailing for most of the first half, Maryland exploded on offense to bury the Blue Devils and knock them out of the ACC tournament.
Duke will have the benefit of home-field advantage as it tries for its first ACC title since 2005.
Since head coach John Danowski took over at Duke in 2007, his teams have gone 25-7 against conference opponents.
As the clock struck zero, the Blue Devils stepped off the field having toppled the nation’s top team.
Knocking off the No. 1 team in the country often requires specific and complex scheming.
Duke scored seven unanswered goals to open the second half in order to clinch the victory in its final game before the ACC tournament.
Duke will host High Point Wednesday night at Koskinen Stadium in the Blue Devils’ last regular season game before the ACC tournament.
The Blue Devils were afforded one last chance to improve before their regular-season finale.
Winning the draw control battle propelled the Blue Devils to victory in their final ACC game of the regular season.
The Blue Devils will have one last chance to improve before taking on No. 1 Virginia next week in the regular season finale.