Christian Walsh scored four goals and No. 5 Duke came from a 4-2 halftime deficit to defeat No. 9 North Carolina 12-9 in the title game for the Atlantic Coast Conference lacrosse championship.
It was Duke’s seventh ACC title in the tournament era and its fourth conference title in the past six years.
“I’m very humbled that we had the opportunity to play in this game, and then we have an opportunity to win a championship game,” said Duke coach John Danowski. “Winning an ACC championship is a big deal. While the lacrosse world will say that, hey it’s only four teams, but our conference is so competitive that it is a big deal to be crowned a champion. Also with the physicality of these two games, you have to play so hard to win. It just goes to the team that fights the hardest to win. I’m very proud of this group at the end of the day.”
The first quarter ended in a 2-2 tie as four different goal scorers found the back of the net. Duke opened the scoring when Stephen Coyle scored his first goal of the season, an unassisted goal from the left side with 10:12 remaining in the quarter. The Blue Devils quickly extended the lead to 2-0 on a Christian Walsh strike 35 seconds later. North Carolina rallied with two goals in the final seven minutes of the quarter by freshmen Chad Tutton and Jimmy Bitter to even the match. Tar Heel goalkeeper Steven Rastivo preserved the tie with a big save with eight seconds remaining in the period.