Duke–North Carolina lacrosse rivalry

The Duke–North Carolina lacrosse rivalry is an intercollegiate lacrosse rivalry between the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels. Located just 9.8 miles apart on Tobacco Road,[1] the two programs are classic rivals in the Atlantic Coast Conference, headlined by their basketball and football rivalries, but also extending to lacrosse - even club lacrosse.[2] The rivalry has carried national importance itself since the 1990s, leading to numerous thrilling contests between the two in the ACC and NCAA postseason tournaments. Duke leads the ACC series 9–4 and has compiled a perfect 4–0 mark against the heels in NCAA tournament play.[3] Current Heels coach Joe Breschi summed up the rivalry as "when you’re 12 miles away from a school that you don’t like and doesn’t like you, it makes it more intense. There’s so much more meaning there than any other game. That’s what makes winning that much more sweet.”[4] In 2019, his counterpart Duke head coach John Danowski described the annual challenge of facing UNC: "They're really good. They're very well-coached, they get the best players in the country year after year, they have the top recruiting classes, and they hate Duke."[5] As a testament to the national success between the two schools, the Blue Devils have won three national titles (2010, 2013, 2014), while the Tar Heels lay claim to five (1981, 1982, 1986, 1991, 2016).[6] As of 2020, North Carolina leads the series 42–33.[7]

Duke–North Carolina lacrosse rivalry

Duke Blue Devils North Carolina Tar Heels
First meeting	May 11, 1952 Duke 12, North Carolina 4
Latest meeting	March 30, 2019 North Carolina 10, Duke 8
Statistics
Meetings total	75
All-time series	North Carolina leads, 42–33
Largest victory	North Carolina, 24–4 (1976)
Longest win streak	North Carolina, 19 (1968–1986)
Current win streak	North Carolina, 1 (2019–Present)

Series History

Carolina Dominance (1950s to 1995)

The series first began in Durham in 1952, with Duke emerging victorious as a four goal winner.[8] The Atlantic Coast Conference began sponsoring men's lacrosse two years later[3] and Duke would again prevail in a 15–1 rout. That season, the Blue Devils would capture the inaugural ACC crown. However, despite the series becoming a conference matchup, the teams would not meet again until 1964, as North Carolina shutout Duke 14–0.[8] After another hiatus in 1966, Duke would take the following season's game and since that date the rivalry has been played annually. Traditionally, the programs have been the southern-most programs playing collegiate lacrosse. As a result, they were at a recruiting disadvantage for much of the 20th century due to the long distances from recruiting hotbeds and other schools.[9] NC State had a program for ten years in the 1970s and 1980s, but the ACC schools were the only Division I members in North Carolina for decades. This contributed to the importance of the annual series in the eyes of supporters and sparse southern recruiting.

With this context, the present national powers struggled for much of their early existence against established programs like Maryland and Virginia. The Tar Heels would build momentum in the 1970s, appearing in their first NCAA tournament in 1976, their first Final Four in 1980, and claiming their first national title in 1981.[6] Duke struggled during this same period, at one point going winless in conference play for 10 straight years, compiling an 0–35 mark.[8] The Blue Devils did not fare much better against a newly dominant Tar Heels program. North Carolina won a series-record 19 consecutive victories, spanning the late 1960s, entire decade of the 1970s, and the mid-1980s.[10] The last Carolina triumph in this streak was an overtime victory in 1986 before Duke ended the drought with a one goal win the next year. However, after this rare loss, Carolina would take the next 11 meetings, with only two games decided by three or fewer goals. Mike Pressler would change the course of the rivalry and launch Duke's current status as a national power. After losing his first seven matchups, Pressler's Blue Devils downed UNC in a 14–6 display in the 1995 ACC tournament.[3] Duke would earn the league tournament title and proceed to its third-ever NCAA postseason appearance. However, Duke had yet to advance past the quarterfinals on the national stage.[8]

Recent History (1995 to Present)

That 1995 meeting would mark the turning point in the rivalry, as the Blue Devils won eight of the next ten games. On the national stage, Duke would reach the Final Four in 1997 before the rivals met for their first NCAA postseason meeting the next year.[11] #7 Duke downed the Heels 16–14 before falling in the quarters to eventual national champion Princeton. After the '98 season, Carolina would experience a downturn as the Blue Devils took the reign as the predominant team in the South. Coupled with a coaching change, UNC made just two tournament appearances between 1999 and 2006 shortly after their streak of 17 consecutive appearances had ended in 1996.[7]

UNC and Duke competing in the 2009 ACC tournament championship game

Carolina would take three straight meetings from 2002 to 2004, but Duke would engineer in a season sweep in its 2005 national runner-up season. That sweep would portend further dominance[12] from the Blue Devils, as they defeated UNC 11 straight times.[10] This period often included rematches in the ACC tournament[13] and twice during the NCAA postseason.[4] In 2007, Duke advanced to the Final Four by defeating the Heels for the third time that season, pulling away from Carolina by a score of 19 to 11. Two seasons later, Duke again defeated UNC in the quarters in a closer affair. Prior to that postseason game, senior defenseman Ryan McFadyen described the stakes of the rivalry: There’s nothing like it. No other rivalry, even Maryland or UVA, is the same. It’s going to be a hard-fought game and guys are going battle back and forth with each other the whole time. There’s even going to be some dirty play. There’s bad blood between these two teams, for sure.”[4] The two had met in the ACC championship and would be a close game. In the fourth quarter, the Heels rallied from a four goal deficit to cut Duke's lead to one, but a Sean Delaney shot missed high as time expired to seal another Blue Devils victory. After UNC took the 2010 regular season matchup, Duke routed UNC, spurred by a six goal run in the second half,[14] en route to its first-ever national championship in lacrosse.[9][15][16] This victory was Duke's third in the quarterfinals over the Heels in just four seasons, improving their overall NCAA postseason Tobacco Road record to a perfect 4–0.

The last decade has seen an increasingly competitive series between the two schools. Of the previous eight meetings, four went to Duke and four went to North Carolina. Furthermore, the teams combined for four national titles (2010, 2013, 2014, 2016) and eight Final Four appearances during the period.[6] From 2007 to 2015, 12 of the 16 games played between the two schools occurred when both were ranked inside the USILA Top 10.[17] Two recent games, both UNC victories, were particularly notable affairs. In the 2013 ACC tournament,[1] the Heels prevailed 18–17, combining for 35 goals,[10] the second-most in the series, only trailing a 39 goal game in 1990. After the Blue Devils nearly completed a nine goal comeback, the game also made ACC tournament history, with the most total goals scored, while Duke's Jordan Wolf and his seven points were one shy of tying the individual point record in the tournament.[18] Another shootout occurred in 2016, with UNC beating Duke by a score of 17–16 in sudden death overtime to preserve their postseason hopes.[19] Senior midfielder Patrick Kelly secured the victory with just over two minutes remaining in overtime after Duke had scored a tying goal in regulation with only eight seconds to go.[20] That victory propelled the Heels to the NCAA tournament and their run to the national title.[21][22]

Rival Accomplishments

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.[8][7]

Team	Duke Blue Devils	North Carolina Tar Heels
Pre-NCAA National Titles	0	0
NCAA National Titles	3	5
NCAA Final Four Appearances	12	13
NCAA Tournament Appearances	23	32
NCAA Tournament Record	37–20	33–27
Conference Tournament Titles	7	9
Conference Championships	13	12
Tewaarton Award Recipients	2	0
Lt. Raymond Enners Award Recipients	2	3
Consensus First Team All-Americans	40	39
All-time Program Record	588–424–1	509–310–2
All-time Winning Percentage	.581	.621

Game Results

Rankings are incomplete (Duke accurate from 1993 to present; North Carolina accurate from 1999 to present).

Duke victories

North Carolina victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1952 Durham, NC Duke 11–7 2 1953 Durham, NC Duke 13–4 3 1954 Durham, NC Duke 15–1 4 1964 Durham, NC North Carolina 14–0 5 1965 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 14–7 6 1967 Durham, NC Duke 12–6 7 1968 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 13–7 8 1969 Durham, NC North Carolina 12–10 9 1970 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 20–5 10 1971 Durham, NC North Carolina 7–4 11 1972 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 15–7 12 1973 Durham, NC North Carolina 11–10 13 1974 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 17–15 14 1975 Durham, NC North Carolina 13–5 15 1976 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 24–4 16 1977 Durham, NC North Carolina 12–7 17 1978 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 17–10 18 1979 Durham, NC North Carolina 10–4 19 1980 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 10–6 20 1981 Durham, NC North Carolina 22–5 21 1982 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 18–5 22 1983 Durham, NC North Carolina 19–5 23 1984 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 18–4 24 1985 Durham, NC North Carolina 11–9 25 1986 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 9–8^OT 26 1987 Durham, NC Duke 10–9 No. Date Location Winner Score 27 1988 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 18–9 28 1989 Durham, NC North Carolina 14–8 29 1989 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 18–6 30 1990 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 26–13 31 1991 Durham, NC North Carolina 15–6 32 1991 Durham, NC North Carolina 11–8 33 1992 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 9–8 34 1993 Durham, NC North Carolina 13–9 35 1993 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 13–6 36 1994 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 23–9 37 1995 Durham, NC North Carolina 13–8 38 1995 Chapel Hill, NC #7 Duke 14–6 39 1996 Chapel Hill, NC #9 Duke 11–10 40 1996 Charlottesville, VA North Carolina 18–8 41 1997 Durham, NC #11 Duke 8–7 42 1998 Chapel Hill, NC #7 Duke 13–9 43 1998 Amherst, MA #7 Duke 16–14 44 1999 Durham, NC #15 North Carolina 10–9 45 1999 Chapel Hill, NC #3 Duke 9–7 46 2000 Durham, NC #9 Duke 13–8 47 2001 Chapel Hill, NC #10 Duke 11–8 48 2001 Orlando, FL #12 Duke 11–9 49 2002 Durham, NC #9 North Carolina 9–7 50 2003 Chapel Hill, NC #13 North Carolina 14–9 51 2004 Durham, NC #8 North Carolina 10–9^OT 52 2005 Chapel Hill, NC #3 Duke 12–10 No. Date Location Winner Score 53 2005 Baltimore, MD #2 Duke 13–11 54 2006 Durham, NC #3 Duke 11–8 55 2007 Chapel Hill, NC #5 Duke 9–7 56 2007 Durham, NC #2 Duke 13–9 57 2007 Annapolis, MD #2 Duke 19–11 58 2008 Durham, NC #1 Duke 19–9 59 2008 Charlottesville, VA #2 Duke 17–6 60 2009 Chapel Hill, NC #9 Duke 12–8 61 2009 Chapel Hill, NC #6 Duke 15–13 62 2009 Annapolis, MD #3 Duke 12–11 63 2010 Durham, NC #4 North Carolina 13–7 64 2010 Princeton, NJ #5 Duke 17–9 65 2011 Chapel Hill, NC #7 Duke 14–9 66 2012 Durham, NC #14 Duke 13–11 67 2012 Charlottesville, VA #7 Duke 12–9 68 2013 Chapel Hill, NC #17 Duke 11–8 69 2013 Chapel Hill, NC #3 North Carolina 18–17 70 2014 Durham, NC #4 Duke 9–8^OT 71 2015 Chapel Hill, NC #4 North Carolina 15–14 72 2016 Durham, NC #15 North Carolina 17–16^OT 73 2017 Chapel Hill, NC #11 Duke 12–8 74 2018 Durham, NC #5 Duke 11–10 75 2019 Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina 10–8 Series: North Carolina leads 42–33 Source:[23]

References

1. "North Carolina vs. Duke: The Battle For Tobacco Road". Lacrosse All Stars. 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
2. "The UNC-Duke rivalry is more than just men's basketball". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
3. "2019_ACC_MLacrosse_RecordBook (PDF) - Atlantic Coast Conference" (PDF). theacc.com. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
4. "ACC Insider: Duke-UNC rivalry hardly lax during basketball offseason". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
5. "Duke men's lacrosse looks to rebound from loss with rivalry showdown at North Carolina". The Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
6. "DI Men's Lacrosse Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
7. "2020 MLAX Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
8. "Duke Lacrosse Record Book" (PDF). Duke University. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
9. Gutierrez, Matthew (2019-05-07). "College Lacrosse Leveled the Field. Its Old Powers Aren't Cheering". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
10. "Carolina & Duke Renew Lacrosse Rivalry Sunday". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
11. Hensley, Jamison. "Neighbors take 'brawl' north Amherst, Mass., is site of Duke-UNC tourney game". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
12. Holding, D. "NCAA Lacrosse Game Recap: No. 17 Duke Beats No. 6 UNC in Classic Rivalry". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
13. "Tar Heels Set To Battle No. 2 Duke In ACC Semifinals Friday". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
14. Sun, Mike Preston, The Baltimore. "Duke cruises over North Carolina, 17-9". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
15. "O'Neil: Duke lacrosse turns the page with NCAA title". ESPN.com. 2010-05-31. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
16. Sakakeeny, Bryan. "Faith Rewarded: Duke Wins NCAA Lacrosse National Championship". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
17. "Duke and UNC Renew Lacrosse Rivalry Sunday". Duke University. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
18. WRAL (2013-04-26). "MLAX: Duke comeback falls short in 18-17 thriller at No. 1 UNC :". WRALSportsFan.com. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
19. "Taking a look at UNC's biggest rivalry wins over Duke from the last decade". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
20. "Kelly's wild goal leads UNC men's lacrosse to overtime win over Duke". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
21. Ellentuck, Matt (2016-05-30). "Heels top Terps for lacrosse National Championship". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
22. Fitzgerald, Matt. "NCAA Lacrosse Championship 2016: Score and Recap for North Carolina vs. Maryland". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
23. "UNC 2020 Men's Lacrosse Record Book". Retrieved 29 March 2019.