No. 7 North Carolina Edges No. 12 Duke, 8-7

Saturday, April 12

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

9-4

North Carolina

9-2

North Carolina

Duke University

Photo by: Duke Athletics

No. 7 North Carolina Edges No. 12 Duke, 8-7

4/12/2025 8:12:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

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DURHAM, N.C.—Duke forced No. 7 North Carolina into 18 turnovers but the 12th-ranked Blue Devils couldn't capitalize on offense in an 8-7 setback to the Tar Heels in ACC men's lacrosse action at Koskinen Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Duke (9-4) led 5-3 at halftime, but a 4-1 third quarter for the Tar Heels (9-2) proved to be the difference. Junior Charlie Johnson was outstanding on defense for the Blue Devils, recording five caused turnovers and picking up four ground balls while holding Owen Duffy to two points.

Junior Max Sloat and sophomore Benn Johnston paced Duke offensively with two goals apiece.

How it Happened

North Carolina opened the scoring just over two minutes into the game – Owen Duffy's lone score of the afternoon. The Blue Devils responded with a pair of goals in a span of two minutes. Johnston had the opening goal for Duke on a pass from Liam Kershis while Sloat's solo effort at the 5:28 mark made it 2-1 Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils held North Carolina scoreless for the final 12:48 of the quarter, heading into the second period with a 2-1 advantage.
The back and forth continued in the second stanza with North Carolina notching the first two goals of the period three minutes apart to regain the 3-2 edge. The goal at the 13:13 mark ended the Tar Heels' scoring skid at 14:35.
Duke punched back with three unanswered in 4:19 to head into the halftime break with a 5-3 lead. Sloat tied the game on another unassisted goal before Graham Blake got into the scoring column 1:22 later to put the Blue Devils ahead, 4-3. Johnston capped the run with 1:10 remaining, rifling a right-handed shot past North Carolina goalie Michael Gianforcaro.
Momentum shifted quickly in favor of North Carolina in the third quarter. The Tar Heels scored 32 seconds into the period to make it a 5-4 game and tacked on two more 10 seconds apart to swing back in front 6-5. Duke and North Carolina traded goals down the stretch of the third, leaving the Blue Devils behind 7-6 with 15 minutes remaining.
Mason Szewczyk scored his second of the day to give North Carolina its largest lead of the afternoon at 8-6 early in the fourth quarter. Aiden Blake pulled the Blue Devils within one at 8-7 less than two minutes later, leaving Duke nearly 11 minutes to pull out the win.
Defensively, Duke held North Carolina without a goal for the final 12:44 but could not solve the offensive puzzle. The Blue Devils fired six shots in the final 10:59 while North Carolina had just two looks at goal. Gianforcaro made four of his five saves of the period in the final 10:59 to secure the victory for the Tar Heels. He had 12 for the game.
Patrick Jameison was solid in goal with 12 saves while Luke Engelke won 9-of-18 faceoffs against the nation's fourth-ranked specialist Brady Wambach.

Team Notes

The 15 combined goals in Saturday's contest are the fewest in a Duke – North Carolina game since March 12, 1997 – an 8-7 win for the Blue Devils in Durham.
Duke held North Carolina scoreless for stretches of 14:35 (1-2), 12:44 (4) and 11:50 (2-3). The Blue Devils have held opponents without a goal for 10-plus minutes 16 times this season. The three 10-plus minute droughts for UNC are tied for the most by a Duke foe this season.
The eight goals by North Carolina are the fewest for the Tar Heels this season and are 6.70 below their season average. Duke held the attacking duo of Owen Duffy and Dominic Pietramala to just three goals and an assist for four points – 4.30 points below their combined points per game average.
Duke forced the Tar Heels into 18 turnovers – the third most by North Carolina all year.
Duke moves to 4-3 against top 20 opponents this year and to 37-45 all-time against North Carolina. It is the first time Duke has lost consecutive games to North Carolina since 2015-16.
The one-goal loss is the second for the Blue Devils this season and pushes Duke to 96-78 in one-goal games in program history. Duke is 37-24 in games decided by a single goal under head coach John Danowski.

Player Notes

Duke close defenseman Charlie Johnson had another outstanding game, recording five caused turnovers and four ground balls while holding North Carolina leading scorer Owen Duffy to one goal and one assist. Duffy entered the game averaging 4.70 points per game. His two points are the second fewest this season and mark just the fifth time in his career he has had two or fewer points in a game.
Johnson's five caused turnovers match his career high and give him 24 for the season. He has multiple caused turnovers in seven games this season and two games with five.
Aidan Maguire registered two caused turnovers to give him 24 for the season. He is two caused turnovers away from tying for fifth all-time by short-stick midfielders in NCAA single-season history.
Henry Bard matched up against North Carolina attackman Dominic Pietramala, holding the Tar Heels' leading goal scorer to two tallies. Entering the game averaging 3.40, the two goals are tied for the second fewest by the redshirt sophomore this season.
Patrick Jameison registered 12 saves for his sixth double-digit save performance of the season and the 18th of his career.
Luke Engelke won 9-of-18 faceoffs versus Brady Wambach who entered the game with a 67 percent success rate at the dot. Wambach's .526 win percentage today was his third lowest this season.
Benn Johnston's two goals give him 22 for the year, one more than he had in 19 games last season.
Max Sloat scored a pair of goals, giving him 17 for the year and 30 points. He has two more points than he did in 19 games last year and is two goals shy of matching his total from a year ago.