Duke’s ACC Championship run ended Tuesday night in Chapel Hill, where the Blue Devils were edged 2-1 by No. 6 seed Boston College in the quarterfinals at Karen Shelton Stadium.
The loss sent Duke to 12-5 on the season and dropped the Blue Devils to 22-44 in the ACC Championship. Boston College moved on after getting the better of a game that swung heavily in the Eagles’ favor early, then turned into a late push from Duke that came up just short.
Sophomore Shae Wozniak accounted for Duke’s only goal, her fourth of the season, and classmate Juliette Schulten picked up the assist for her second helper of the year. Duke also finished with a 10-9 advantage in shots and earned five penalty corners, even though it did not register an attempt in the first half.
Boston College controlled the opening stretch. Junior goalkeeper Kaiya Chepow stopped the Eagles’ first shot two minutes into the game, but BC broke through on a set piece in the 11th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Duke had a penalty corner in the 13th minute, but couldn’t turn it into a clean look.
The Eagles added another before halftime, with Maren Boyle scoring her second goal of the night at 17:37 to make it 2-0.
Duke finally found some rhythm in the third quarter, firing off five shots and putting three on target. After being turned away twice at the doorstep, the Blue Devils got on the board in the 44th minute. On the initial penalty corner insert, Schulten sent a shot toward the cage and Wozniak redirected it in at 43:42 to cut the deficit in half.
The Blue Devils kept pressing in the fourth quarter and eventually pulled Chepow for an extra attacker late. Duke generated five more shots, including a breakaway chance for graduate student Alaina McVeigh, but never found the equalizer.
Chepow finished with two saves, bringing her season total to 102.
Duke now waits for the NCAA Championship field to be announced Nov. 8 at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com. The first and second rounds are scheduled for Nov. 13 and 15 on campus sites.
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The good news was a 76-60 win, powered by senior Riley Nelson and junior Arianna Roberson with 15 points apiece, but the injury situation looms larger than one November victory. Coach Kara Lawson said she hopes Fournier can get back soon, and with tougher games ahead, Duke will need both the depth it showed in the opener and a clearer picture of when its star forward might be available again. [Read more 🡒]