Duke Falls to North Carolina in NCAA Semifinal

Friday, May 22

Chester, Pa.

5:00 PM

Duke University

North Carolina - Semifinal

Women's Lacrosse Hosts Fall Action This Weekend

Duke Falls to North Carolina in NCAA Semifinal

5/22/2015 7:31:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

CHESTER, Pa. – Second-seeded North Carolina scored six unanswered in the second half en route to a 16-7 win over No. 3 seed Duke in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship semifinal Friday evening at PPL Park.

After Duke tied the game 4-4 at the 8:20 mark of the first half, North Carolina outscored the Blue Devils 12-3, including 9-3 in the second half, to advance to its third NCAA Championship game. The Blue Devils conclude their season with a 16-5 overall record.

“First, I'd like to congratulate North Carolina," said head coach Kerstin Kimel. "I thought they played a great game tonight. They've had a great season. I'm proud of our team and proud of our seniors especially. I just told them that in the locker room. They've had an unbelievable four years and we've had a great year. I'm proud of them – love them – and I'm proud to be their coach tonight even thought the outcome wasn't what we wanted it to be."

The Tar Heels won the opening draw and scored just 50 seconds into the contest. Senior midfielders Katie Trees and Taylor Trimble then connected for a Duke score after a series of turnovers from both squads in the midfield.

Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea and the Blue Devil defense limited North Carolina's looks in the early going, with Duryea notching three saves in the first 10 minutes. The Tar Heels also started 0-for-4 on free position attempts, but saw Sam McGee put back a rebound off of a Duryea save on an eight-meter shot.

Duke put together back-to-back tallies when senior Chelsea Landon finished on a feed from Kerrin Maurer and Brigid Smith converted on a free position opportunity with 15:44 to play to give the Blue Devils their first lead, 3-2. North Carolina countered with goals by Courtney Waite and Sydney Holman before Trees evened things up at 4-4 with her 34th score of the season.

Trees finished with two goals and an assist to lead all Duke scorers, while Trimble and Smith had two goals apiece.

The Blue Devils won two of the final three draws of the half but the Tar Heels rattled off three goals inside the final 8:11to take a 7-4 lead into the intermission. The back-and-forth first half featured three ties and two lead changes.

Duke's seniors continued to lead the way on the offensive end, as Maurer found Trimble on the first possession of the second half to cut North Carolina's lead to 7-5. However Maggie Bill tallied two in the midst of a four-goal burst by North Carolina that pushed the margin to 11-5.

North Carolina extended its lead to six with goals from Aly Messinger and Holman before Smith snapped an 18-minute scoreless streak for the Blue Devils to make it 13-6. The Tar Heels tacked on three more goals in the final five minutes with a Trees goal sandwiched in for the final 16-7 score.

Duryea was solid in the cage for the Blue Devils, matching her season-high with 10 saves. North Carolina won the draw control, 15-10 and held a 34-19 advantage in shots. Messinger finished with three goals and a pair of assists to pace the Tar Heels' offense.

“It's been an honor these past four years to play for Duke, to play for any amazing coaching staff and an even better group of girls," Maurer said. "And obviously this isn't what we wanted but we have learned so much throughout this year. As a senior leaving you could leave with a national championship, but I will leave with 35 best friends for the rest of my life and that's something that you can't really take away from.”

--- NOTES ---

- With her sixth save of the game, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea surpassed former Blue Devil Kristen Foster to move into fourth on Duke's career saves chart. She owns 432 career saves and matched her season-high with 10 on the evening.

- Senior Kerrin Maurer completes her career as a Blue Devil as the all-time assists leader with 119, edging former assistant coach Kristen Waagbo by three…Maurer finishes her four seasons with 280 points (161 goals, 119 assists) to rank second all-time behind Katie Chrest's 216 … She is sixth in career draw controls with 157, while her 161 goals are fourth all-time.

- Senior Taylor Trimble completes her career ranked eighth on the Duke career draw control chart with 123 and is 14th on the Duke career points list with 160 … Her 133 goals are 12th.

- Duke's 16 wins this spring mark the third most in program history behind the 2006 (18) and 2005 (17) squads.

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