Duke Comeback Falls Short In Loss To North Carolina

Saturday, March 22

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Duke Comeback Falls Short In Loss To North Carolina

3/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- The No. 4 Duke Blue Devils suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday afternoon at Fetzer Field, 16-14, to the No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels. Duke trailed 16-11 with under seven minutes remaining before it scored three goals in 90 seconds to tighten the game, but the Blue Devils were unable to gain possession in the final 4:36.

Duke falls to 7-2 on the year and 1-1 in the ACC while North Carolina improves to an identical 7-2 and 1-1 in the conference. The two squads are currently in a three-way tie with Boston College for third place in the ACC. Duke fell from its perch at the top of the ACC and North Carolina pulled itself out of fifth place.

Duke took a 3-1 lead early in the first half, but UNC would go on a 7-1 run to take an 8-4 lead with 8:39 remaining in the period. The Blue Devils battled back to score four of the final six goals of the half to cut the deficit to 10-8. Tar Heel sophomore Megan Bosica tallied three goals and four assists in the first half alone, although the Duke defense was able to hold her to just one goal in the second.

The Tar Heels would begin the second half with a bang, scoring the first three goals and set the Blue Devils up with a five-goal deficit. The teams then traded the next six goals to leave the score at 16-11 in favor of UNC before the Blue Devils' late run. Duke had come-from-behind in six of its seven wins up until Saturday, but would just miss pulling it off against UNC.

Junior Megan Del Monte had a strong finish for Duke, as she scored three of her four goals and added one assist in the last 10:44 of the contest. Included in that stretch were one assist and two goals in the 90 seconds between 6:06 and 4:36 when the Blue Devils were rallying. Del Monte also picked up four draws for Duke.

Sophomore midfielder Lindsay Gilbride contributed to the offensive effort with three scores and two feeds and freshman midfielder Emma Hamm had another big game with three goals, one assist, six draw controls and three ground balls.

It was a tough day for the Duke defense, as it went through two goalkeepers and gave up the most goals it has all season. Its previous high allowed was 14 to Maryland on March 1. Junior goalkeeper Kim Imbesi was able to make nine saves in the game.

The story of the game was turnovers, as Duke committed 20 to just 12 for North Carolina. The Tar Heels caused 10 of the Blue Devils' turnovers, while Duke was able to cause just five of UNC's.

UNC's Bosica was aided by the Taylor sisters, Kristen and Kelly, who each scored three goals on the day.

The Blue Devils were playing their fourth game out of the last five against a top-10 opponent. They now hold a 4-2 record over ranked teams and a 2-2 mark over top-10 competition.

Duke now leads the all-time series with the Tar Heels, 11-9. The Blue Devils have played North Carolina more than any other opponent in the program's history other than Virginia (21 meetings). 11 of the 20 contests have been decided by two goals or less and nine have been by one goal.

Carolina receives one point for the Carlyle Cup, an all-sports competition between Duke and North Carolina. The Tar Heels currently lead the race in 2007-08 by 15-4 margin. The Carlyle Cup is sponsored by Carlyle & Co., a Greensboro-based jeweler, and fans can visit www.carlylecup.com for more information. Duke claimed the Cup in 2001, 2003 and 2004 while North Carolina earned the trophy in 2002, 2005 and 2006. The two schools tied for the Cup in 2007, with North Carolina retaining possession.

Duke will face yet another top-10 foe in ACC rival and current No. 2 Virginia on Saturday, March 29 at 1:00 p.m., in Koskinen Stadium. That game will be shown live and on-demand on www.ACCSelect.com.

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