Duke got on the scoreboard first with a power play goal by Lake. Lake took a beautiful pass from Ben Peterson and one-timed it into the net. North Carolina responded with a goal by Mike Slitt that resulted from a defensive breakdown by Duke at its own blue line. Duke would score the next two goals on tallies by Strickland and Robert Fogarty. A late first period goal by Tar Heel star Jason Lawrence made the score 3-2 after one period.

Lawrence scored again at the beginning of the second period to tie the game 3-3. Duke scored next when Dave Bradley knocked in a loose puck on a play started by Luke Wolin and Jesse Swanko. Wolin then added a goal of his on a slick move around the Tar Heel defense. The teams went to the second intermission with Duke leading 5-4 because North Carolina's best player, Tim Ewald, scored a late second period goal.

Duke took the game over in the third despite spending much of the period killing penalties. Indeed, Duke's Dave Bradley commented after the game, "I don't think the head official had pockets in his pants because he never put the whistle away." In fact, the game was slowed by 27 total penalties. North Carolina enjoyed a whopping 14 power plays (and scored three power goals), while Duke went 1-for-8 on the power play. That said, the game wasn't especially rough, and both teams wondered why so many penalties were called.

Lawrence finished his hat trick when he took advantage of one of Duke's many penalties to bring the Tar Heels within one goal midway through the final period. Lake had given Duke a 6-4 lead on an impressive short-handed goal (his second goal of the game) to begin the third. The Blue Devils regained the two-goal edge when Swanko broke away from the Carolina defense. He pulled an impressive fake to the left before depositing the puck in the right side of the net. Strickland finished the scoring with his second goal of the game. Duke left the game with an 8-5 win and a good start in its bid to win the ACCHL regular season title.

GAME NOTES
Atlanta-based professional freelance photographer Rachel Thull was at her second consecutive Duke game taking pictures. She does work for the Atlanta Thrashers in addition to many other assignments, and recently photographed Duke's game against Georgia Tech in Philips Arena. On Friday she photographed the ECHL's Greensboro Generals-Reading Royals game and traveled to Durham to catch Duke's game on Saturday... The game, taking place on Duke's Parents and Families Weekend, was Duke's first home contest of the season. The game was also Duke's first in its custom-painted locker room... Steve Strickland celebrated his 22nd birthday today by scoring two goals... Freshman goalie Marc Roitman made his first start as a Blue Devil. He stopped 20 of North Carolina's 25 shots... Duke's next games are November 1-2 at home against Virginia.