Carolina completed an undefeated regular season and clinched its third consecutive ACC regular-season title with a 5-2 win at No. 6 Duke on Friday evening.

Sanne Hak, Avery Donahue and Ryleigh Heck all scored in a fast and furious first quarter, one which ended with the Tar Heels leading 3-1. The score would stay put until the fourth quarter, when Charly Bruder scored her team-leading 21st goal of the season to increase the lead to 4-1. Katie Dixon scored on an empty Blue Devil cage in the final minutes after Duke cut the lead to 4-2.

Carolina held only a 10-9 advantage in total shots, with Duke forcing three saves out of UNC goalie Abigail Taylor. All three of Taylor’s saves came in a scoreless second quarter.

The Tar Heels finish the regular season 15-0 overall and 8-0 in league play. UNC and top-ranked Northwestern are the only teams in the country to finish the season undefeated.

Carolina will now move on to next week’s ACC Tournament in Winston-Salem. As the regular-season champions, UNC will be the No. 1 seed in the field and play its opening game on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

 

Featured image via UNC Field Hockey on Twitter


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