2015 ACC WLAX: UNC advances to final, Duke falls to Syracuse

Atlantic Coast Conference, theACC.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – The second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels moved on to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship Tournament final with an 18-4 semifinal win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Klockner Stadium on Friday.

Led by a a career-high six goals from Aly Messinger, the Tar Heels advanced to the championship game for the ninth time overall and the fifth time in the last six years.

“We are extremely happy and satisfied with our performance today,” Tar Heels head coach Jenny Levy said.

“Last time we played Notre Dame we eeked out a win by one goal, but really felt like they outplayed us in South Bend. Today we wanted to show that we could play at a higher level more consistently with more fire, passion and heart. I thought every player today, and our sideline, completely committed to be the best team we could be.”

Highlights – ACC Digital Network

The 14-goal margin of victory was the biggest in ACC Tournament history, surpassing the previous record of 13 set by Maryland in 2006 (versus Boston College) and Duke in 2008 (versus Virginia Tech).

“We did a really good job at coming out right away in the first half,” Messinger said.

“It sparked a fire in us to continue to play the whole game with that same level of inspiration and determination to win.”

The possibility of an all-Triangle ACC final taking place existed as the Tar Heels would face either second-seeded Duke or sixth-seeded Syracuse, who played in the other semifinal.

The matchup wasn’t going to happen as the Orange upset the Blue Devils who couldn’t hold on and suffered a 14-10 loss.

Duke’s senior class, led by Kerrin Maurer, Brigid Smith and Taylor Trimble, contributed seven of the 10 goals on the afternoon, while goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea made nine saves.

With the scored tied 6-6 at halftime, Syracuse took advantage of a 3-0 run early in the second half that established a lead that it never relinquished for the remainder of the game.

Highlights – ACC Digital Network

“We struggled to win draws and we gave Syracuse possession,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said.

“Syracuse has a great offense and they fired on all cylinders. We did a lot of good things, but we did not have the ball enough. We felt confident that if we had the ball, we would create good scoring opportunities. We did that at points in the second half, but we did not capitalize on enough of our scoring opportunities. We got the looks, but we did not finish. If you don’t do that, you are probably going to go home with a loss.”

After beating Syracuse on Apr. 11 (15-8), the Tar Heels will look to top the Orange one more time to sweep conference accolades on the season.