Princeton bedeviled by Duke on the road

The big W was hanging there, ripe for the plucking. Every single member of the women's lacrosse team knew it, but before the Tigers could reach out and pluck it, No. 4 Duke (4-1) pulled the trigger before No. 9 Princeton (2-1) could, clinching the firefight of a match by a score of 16-14.

The Tigers were staging an amazing comeback. Down 7-2 early, Princeton was within two with around 12 minutes to go in the half. A couple of minutes later, junior midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica notched her second consecutive goal and third of the game to close the gap to 11-12.

"When it was 12-11, I think everyone on the field was feeling like 'Oh god, we have this.' And then what happened yet again was a score off of a draw," senior attack and co-captain Kathleen Miller said. "They're a very impressive, very experienced attack."

One minute after Lewis-Lamonica's goal, Duke attack Kristen Waagbo pushed back. Thirty seconds later, attack Leigh Jester responded with an exclamation mark, cutting through Princeton's transition defense to score. It was a scene that would repeat itself — another 45 seconds later in play.

"I think we did a very good job when the ball was settled," Miller said. "Our defense did a phenomenal job on their attack when the ball was settled. We just need to fix the fast break."

The Tigers were on the verge of completing a magnificent comeback, but before they could blink the margin was back to four with only seven and a half minutes to go. Princeton finally cut into the lead when Miller scored her third goal of the afternoon, but it wasn't enough. Time was playing against the Tigers, with little more than four minutes left on the clock.

The game was even everywhere except the scoreboard. In nearly all the major statistical categories, the Tigers were right on par with the Blue Devils — save for the one category that counts the most.

"I don't think we necessarily had stretches of poor playing — we just need to work on our defense transition," Miller said. "Especially off the draw — that was our weakness. We also need to work on finishing off our eight-meter shots."

From the very beginning, Duke's speed was the difference. The Blue Devils won control of the first draw, and a short 15 seconds later, Jester scored the first goal of the game.

The Tigers fought hard, putting the score at two-all eight minutes later when junior attack Alison Murray found the back of the net. After a series of possessions during which senior goalie Colleen O'Boyle and Kim Imbesi made several solid saves for their respective teams, Duke finally broke through with a point from attack Caroline Cryer. Then came the onslaught.

The Blue Devils went on to score four goals in just over a minute, and they weren't finished until they ran the unanswered streak to five. The Tigers spent most of the game simply trying to climb out of the hole they had dug themselves.

Sophomore midfielder Holly McGarvie finally stopped the bleeding with a goal of her own off a free position shot. The teams would trade goals until a quick two-goal burst from Murray and Miller closed the gap to 10-8 going into halftime.

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Duke came out firing again in the second half, displaying its deadly explosiveness with two goals from the triple-pronged attack juggernaut that was Cryer, Waagbo and Jester. Together, the terrible trio combined for eight goals and four assists — more than half of the Blue Devils' points.

Sophomore attack Christine Casaceli sparked a Princeton 3-0 run in response with her third goal of the day. But the Tigers just couldn't finish the storybook ending.

Still, it was a close, hard-fought battle between two top-tier teams in the league.

As with any sport, it's always best to play your best in the end — not in the beginning.

"We've already improved so much. When given the option, would you rather lose now, or take the loss a week from the national championship?" Miller said. "We had them, but we just didn't capitalize on our opportunities. We absolutely will do that if we face them again."

"Right now, we're not hanging our heads. We're not crying; we're not upset. We're just not satisfied. We're just going to have to come back and work doubly hard. We need to work on the draw, because whoever controls the draw controls the game," Miller said. "A few little tweaks here and there and we would have a different outcome."

The Tigers weren't first to the punch this time around. But given more time and practice, they expect they will be quickest to the draw.