The No. 5 North Carolina field hockey team defeated No. 1 Duke 3-2 to advance to the finals of the ACC Tournament.
What happened?
Coming off of a 3-0 win over UNC in the ACC regular-season finale, Duke seemed to be on pace for more of the same, scoring just over a minute into the matchup. However, it took less than two minutes for the Tar Heels to find what had eluded them less than two weeks ago, equalizing the game off of a goal by Ashley Hoffman.
In the second half, Duke got started early again, pulling ahead 2-1 one minute into the half. And again, Hoffman found an answer. Coming off of a penalty stroke, Hoffman hurled one into the back of the net to tie the game at two. Less than 5 minutes later, Emma Bozek sent a pass to Malin Evert, who netted the go-ahead goal for the Tar Heels.
Down 3-2 with five minutes to go, Duke pulled its goalie. And a minute later, Evert was given a yellow card, forcing her out of the game. Effectively down by two players, the Tar Heels were faced with a furious Duke scramble as the clock dwindled down.
But North Carolina withheld the Blue Devils’ final push, advancing to the ACC final with the one goal victory.
Who stood out?
For every attack that Duke’s team could manage, Ashley Hoffman seemed to be able to counter on the other end. Her goal at 1:59 shut down the early momentum of Duke, who had scored just 1:05 into the game. Her second goal was just as timely, pulling the Tar Heels even with the Blue Devils with just over ten minutes remaining in the game.
