No. 1 UNC trailed 5-2 in the waning seconds of the first half but still beat No. 19 Duke going away Thursday night in Durham, winning 11-5 in the final game of the regular season.

The Blue Devils scored the game’s first three goals and took that 5-2 lead with 40 seconds to go in the first quarter. Chloe Humphrey was the entire Tar Heel offense, scoring both of their goals to that point. She’d make it a first half hat trick just 20 seconds after Duke’s first goal, cutting the deficit to 5-3 and stealing some momentum away before halftime.

UNC made it one-way traffic in the second half, holding Duke scoreless for the entire 30 minutes and rattling off eight unanswered goals — nine when counting Humphrey’s at the end of the second quarter. Humphrey scored UNC’s first two goals of the second half, giving her all five of the Tar Heels’ goals to that point. Her teammates eventually got in on the fun, as Addison Pattillo, Eva Ingrilli, Darcy Felter and Kiley Mottice would all score in the second half.  As a team, Carolina outshot the Blue Devils 20-9 overall in the final 30 minutes. UNC goalie Lexi Zenk, subbed in at halftime, made seven saves to shut Duke out.

Humphrey finished with seven goals and three assists. The rest of the Tar Heels combined totaled four goals and three assists. Humphrey has been red hot across the past month, scoring at least five goals in each of UNC’s past six games. In the last three, she’s scored a combined 22. Humphrey now has 79 goals in 14 games, putting her on pace to surpass her total of 90 in 22 games last season. Her 33 assists are already more than last season’s 28.

UNC ends the regular season 13-1 overall and 10-0 in ACC play, having won the conference regular season title for the second consecutive year. The Tar Heels also finished 6-0 in true road games.

Up next for Carolina is the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. The Tar Heels will be the No. 1 seed in the field and will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Nate Skvoretz

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