Heels Down Blue Devils In Overtime To Claim Share Of Regular Season ACC Title

Friday, October 31

Chapel Hill

6 PM

North Carolina

(16-1, 7-1)

Duke

(11-6, 4-4)

Duke

North Carolina

Photo by: NATE SKVORETZ

Heels Down Blue Devils In Overtime To Claim Share Of Regular Season ACC Title

October 31, 2025 | Field Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: William Soulé

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – An overtime goal from Dani Mendez lifted Carolina field hockey to a Halloween night 2-1 win over Duke in Karen Shelton Stadium. The victory secured the program a share of the ACC regular season title for the fourth straight year.

The Tar Heels (16-1, 7-1 ACC) sent their seniors off in style with the late victory over their rivals from up the road in Durham. It was the first overtime outing in the series since an April game in 2021 and extends head coach Erin Matson's record to a perfect 13-0 against the Blue Devils as a player and a coach.

It was Duke that got on the board first through a Macy Szukics goal off a penalty corner. The first quarter was controlled by the Blue Devils, but the next 45 and some change favored the Tar Heels. Carolina outshot their opposition 16-5 in the final three quarters and overtime.

All of those attacks on goal finally produced fruit for the Heels when freshman defender Isabel Boere put a drag flick into the back of the net in the third frame. It was the seventh goal of the season for the Dutch international, the most by a rookie since Ryleigh Heck in 2022.

The freshman may have tied the score, but this game was all about the eight seniors that were honored afterwards. A class responsible for two national championships and three ACC titles thus far, all eight played in their final regular season outing and made their presence felt all over the field.

Grace Pottebaum, Sietske Brüning, and Katie Wimmer marshalled a defense that shut down the Duke attack after the initial goal. The nation's No. 10 scoring defense wound up holding an opponent to a goal or less for the 13^th time in 2025.

Molly Catchpole, Kara Heck, and Sanne Hak pushed their squad to pick up the press to wrestle control of the game back down the stretch. That control paid dividends in the overtime when another pair of seniors produced the game winner.
Dani Mendez hustled to pick the ball up deep in attacking half and found a waiting Ryleigh Heck. Heck wove her way through the Duke defense to get the ball back to a waiting Mendez who laid out to score the game winner.

With the regular season in the books, the Tar Heels will travel to Louisville for the 2025 ACC Championship. UNC, the eight-time defending champions of the tournament, will look to bring home the program's 28^th conference title.