Duke solidified its postseason hopes with a 14-13 win over Notre Dame in the ACC quarterfinals on Wednesday night, and led rival North Carolina 7-6 at the half in Saturday’s semifinal, but the Tar Heels took care of business in the second half, beating the Blue Devils 16-11.
North Carolina will play at unbeaten and No. 1 ranked Boston College in Sunday’s championship game at 1 p.m.
Olivia Jenner, who had six goals in Duke’s quarterfinal win, scored three goals in the first 10+ minutes to stake the Blue Devils to a 4-2 lead and Abby Landry’s goal with 3:20 left in the first half gave the Blue Devils their 7-6 halftime advantage.
After UNC’s Kara Klages tied the game to open the second half, Duke took its final lead of the game on Catherine Cordrey’s goal with 27:02 left in the half.
North Carolina then scored four straight goals over a span of more than 10 minutes to take the lead.
Duke’s Katie Cronin scored a man-up goal with 13:08 left to get Duke back within 11-9, but UNC then went on a three-goal run to put the game away.
Olivia Ferrucci, a former U.S. U19 player (2015) that missed half of her freshman season in 2016 and all of 2017 with an injury, had a huge game for the Tar Heels. Ferrucci had a career-high six points (3g, 3a) for UNC, registering five of her points in the second half to fuel the Tar Heels victory.
On to the ACC championship game! pic.twitter.com/aOeuUnB5M9
— UNC Women's Lacrosse (@uncwlax) April 27, 2019
Klages and Jamie Ortega each had four goals for the Tar Heels (14-3) and goalie Elise Hennesey came off the bench late in the first half and made nine saves while allowing just four goals to earn the victory.
Jenner led Duke (10-8) with four goals and also had 12 draw controls to help the Blue Devils to a 20-9 advantage in the circle. Cronin added a hat trick.
MAAC Tournament
• Samantha Mehalick scored 11 goals, including a free position goal with just 11 seconds to play give No. 5 seed Marist a 15-14 victory over Manhattan in the first round of the MAAC women’s tournament. Marist will play at No. 1 seed Fairfield in the MAAC semifinals on Thursday.
goals for Samantha Mehalick, including this free-position goal in the final minute as @MaristWomensLax beats Manhattan 15-14 in opening round of @MAACSports tourney. pic.twitter.com/5guNjJD5Wt
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 27, 2019
• Sophomore Kerry Gerety had eight points (6g, 2a) as Siena beat Canisius 16-12 to advance to the MAAC semifinals. Siena, which has tied the school record with 11 wins, will play Monmouth in the semifinals on Thursday.
Notable
• Erica Evans had a season-high seven points (6g, 1a) as No. 2 Maryland downed Johns Hopkins 19-12 to win its fifth straight Big Ten regular season championship. Maryland is a perfect 28-0 in its five seasons of Big Ten play.
* No. 10 Princeton beat Cornell 18-15 to capture a share of its sixth straight Ivy League regular season championship. Princeton and Dartmouth both finished 6-1 in the league, but Princeton will be the No. 1 seed for next weekend’s tournament at Columbia based on its head-to-head win over the Big Green. Tess D’Orsi, Elizabeth George and Kyla Sears each scored four goals for Princeton.
• No. 12 Dartmouth earned its share of the Ivy League championship with a 23-9 victory over Yale. Dartmouth senior Kellen D’Alleva had two goals and four assists to set the school’s single-season assist record with 41. Kierra Sweeney and Michelle Yu each had five goals for the Big Green.
Kellen D'Alleva sets @DartmouthWLax single-season assist mark on this feed. Big Green beat Yale 23-9 to earn at least a share of @IvyLeague regular season crown. D'Alleva finishes with 2g, 4a to give her 41 helpers this year. pic.twitter.com/ysW0kSloMq
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 27, 2019
• Lindsey Ronbeck scored a school-record nine goals as No. 16 Florida blew out Cincinnati 25-6 to clinch the American Athletic Conference regular season title. Ronbeck now has 76 goals for the Gators who will head to Cincinnati for the AAC tournament as the No. 1 seed. Florida will play Vanderbilt in the opening round.
Lindsey Ronbeck scores a school-record goals as @GatorsLAX beats Cincinnati 25-6 to win @American_WLax regular season title. pic.twitter.com/Ubrlo46Ud4
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 27, 2019
• Maryn Lowell made 15 saves as Temple beat Vanderbilt 15-6 to earn the No. 3 seed in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls will play host Cincinnati on Thursday.
• Alyssa Parrella became Hofstra’s all-time leading goal scorer as the Pride beat Drexel 19-11. Parrella had four goals to give her 186 for her career, breaking the mark of 183 set by Kathleen Mikowski (2000-03). Freshman Erin Demek had a season-high seven goals in the win.
Alyssa Parrella of @HofstraWLAX scores her 184th career goal to break Kathleen Mikowski's school record. pic.twitter.com/BsTU18iwTh
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 27, 2019
• Sophia Triandafils scored four goals as Penn State downed Rutgers 18-7 to clinch the fourth and final spot in the Big Ten women’s lacrosse tournament. The Nittany Lions will play No. 1 seed Maryland on Friday at Johns Hopkins.
• Gabby Rosenzweig had two goals and five assists to lead No. 14 Penn past Harvard 17-9. Penn finished third in the Ivy and will meet Dartmouth in the semifinal round.
• Detroit Mercy, Furman and Mercer all picked up wins to end the season as tri-champions of the Southern Conference at 4-1. Furman will host next weekend’s conference tournament, but Mercer earned the No. 1 seed and will meet Central Michigan in the semifinals. Detroit Mercy and Furman will play in the other semifinal.
• Marquette beat Georgetown for the first time in school history, posting a 14-12 victory over the Hoyas. Grace Gabriel scored five goals to help the Golden Eagles earn the No. 2 seed for next weekend’s Big East tournament. Marquette will be the host for the event and will play Georgetown in the semifinals on Thursday.
Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20 Scoreboard
No. 2 Maryland 19, No. 20 Johns Hopkins 12
No. 3 North Carolina 16, Duke 11
No. 10 Princeton 18, Cornell 15
No. 12 Dartmouth 23, Yale 9
No. 14 Penn 17, Harvard 9
No. 16 Florida 25, Cincinnati 6
Other Scores
Albany 14, UMBC 6
Brown 13, Columbia 8
Connecticut 17, East Carolina 7
Detroit Mercy 10, Central Michigan 9
Furman 18, Wofford 5
Hofstra 19, Drexel 11
Marist 15, Manhattan 14
Marquette 14, Georgetown 12
Mercer 23, Delaware State 2
Old Dominion 18, Butler 6
Penn State 18, Rutgers 7
Siena 16, Canisius 12
Temple 11, Vanderbilt 6
Towson 17, Delaware 14
UMass-Lowell 19, Hartford 5
Vermont 23, Binghamton 3