No. 1 Duke Welcomes No. 2 UNC to Koskinen Thursday

The Opening Faceoff

Duke is 9-0, its best start through eight games since the 2005 squad started 11-0. The Blue Devils jumped back to No. 1 in the polls following a thrilling 15-14 win over No. 4 Syracuse last Thursday.
Duke once again had a balanced offensive effort against Syracuse with nine different players scoring. Michael Sowers had three goals and three assists, while Brennan O'Neill had three tallies. Duke held the Orange without a goal in the final 7:10, including with a man down in the final minute to secure the victory.
Thursday's matchup will be the first time in the history of the Duke - UNC rivalry where the teams will be ranked Nos. 1 and 2. The Blue Devils were No. 1 in 2008 and the Tar Heels were No. 3. North Carolina has been the top ranked team five times in the game with the most recent being in the 2013 ACC Semifinal contest.
After Duke won 13 of 15 games from 2007-13, the rivalry is an even 3-3 since 2014. North Carolina last won in Durham in 2016, a 17-16 overtime shootout.
The matchup between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels pits the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 scoring offenses against each other. North Carolina is No. 1 at 18.38 goals per game, while Duke is second at 17.00. Chris Gray for UNC is second in the nation in scoring average (6.62/gm), while Michael Sowers for Duke is 11th (5.56/gm).

Duke Off to a 9-0 Start

Duke made it through its non-conference slate with a 8-0 record and went undefeated in the month of February for the first time since 2014. The win against Syracuse pushed Duke to 9-0, the best record since the 2005 team started 11-0. Under head coach John Danowski, Duke has gone unbeaten three times in February – 2-0 in 2007 and 2008 and 4-0 in 2014.
Not only do the Blue Devils have an unblemished record, they've done so in convincing fashion, sporting an 8.33 scoring margin to rank first in the ACC and second nationally.

Blue Devils Return to No. 1

The Blue Devils returned to No. 1 following their win against Syracuse last week. Duke and North Carolina have been swapping the top spot throughout the year with the Blue Devils starting the season at No. 1 before UNC took over after convincing early season results.
The Blue Devils are 8-6 under head coach John Danowski when ranked No. 1.

Duke's Record as No. 1 since 2007

1 vs 2 Matchups in ACC History

Thursday's game will mark just the sixth time in ACC men's lacrosse history that two ACC programs will play when ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the USILA poll since the poll began in 1973. The most recent was in 2015 with No. 1 Notre Dame edging No. 2 North Carolina, 15-14.

ALL-TIME 1 VS 2 IN ACC HISTORY

4/18/2015	at No. 1 Notre Dame 15, No. 2 North Carolina 14
3/28/2015	at No. 2 Notre Dame 13, No. 1 Syracuse 12 (2OT)
4/10/2010	No. 1 Virginia 7, No. 2 North Carolina 5 (East Rutherford, N.Y.)
3/28/1987	at No. 2 Maryland 16, No. 1 North Carolina 6
4/13/1974	at No. 1 Maryland 25, No. 2 Virginia 13

Scouting North Carolina

North Carolina comes into Thursday night with an unblemished 8-0 record and well rested after 11 days without a game. The Tar Heels are 1-0 in league action with a 16-13 win at Virginia.
North Carolina sports the nation's highest scoring offense, averaging 18.38 goals per game and 52.1 shots per game. Chris Gray headlines the attack with 53 points (6.62/gm) to lead the league. Nicky Solomon and Tanner Cook are behind him with 29 and 25. Gray has scored at least two points in every game this season and has seven-plus in six of eight contests. The Tar Heels are assisting on 57 percent of their goals.
Defensively, UNC is allowing 10.25 goals per game and 37.9 shots per game. It has held opponents to .271 shooting this season. Will Bowen is the top takeaway artist with 21 caused turnovers to go with his 19 ground balls. Zac Tucci and Andrew Tyeryar share duties at the faceoff X. Tucci is 71-of-11 (.64) with 29 ground balls, while Tyeryar is 74-of-126 (.587) with 32 ground balls. Tyeryar also has four goals and two assists.
North Carolina has trailed just a few times this season with the largest being a 4-1 deficit in the first meeting with High Point. The Tar Heels also trailed briefly against Richmond and Air Force.

Duke Against Top 10 Foes

When Duke and North Carolina meet Thursday, it will be the 111th time the Blue Devils have played a top 10 opponent since 2007. Duke is 69-41 in the games and Duke is 42-17 when ranked higher.
Duke and North Carolina are playing for the 21st time with both programs ranked in the top 10 and the first time since 2015. Duke is 7-2 when ranked higher. This is the fourth time the Blue Devils and Tar Heels will play as top five opponents and the first time as No. 1 and No. 2.

Top-10 Duke - UNC Matchups

Get The Popcorn Ready

Thursday night's matchup will be guaranteed to have thrilling end-to-end action. In the past 10 meetings the two teams are combining for nearly 24 goals in a game. Only three times have they scored fewer than 20 goals combined and twice they netted over 30 (35 in 2013; 33 in 2016). The lowest scoring game since 2007 was a 9-7 Duke victory in 2007 – John Danowski's first matchup with the Tar Heels as the Blue Devil head coach.
The games have been close in recent years with five of the past seven being one-goal games and two of those going to overtime.

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