Women's Lacrosse: Duke’s 4-goal run too much for hosts

Midway through the first half, Duke pulled ahead by three goals, but Princeton closed the gap to just one when the horn announced halftime. Four consecutive goals early in the second half gave the Blue Devils an important momentum shift which carried them to a 12-9 victory.

“There were a couple of defensive breakdowns, fouls and misplays that Duke capitalized on,” head coach Chris Sailer said. “We made a few mistakes, and Duke made some heads-up plays. They won the draw control, which allowed them to get possession back again.”

On paper, draw controls were the only element of the game that the Blue Devils dominated, grabbing 15 of the 23 draws. Duke caused six turnovers but gave up the ball 13 times; Princeton took better care of the ball, losing it only 10 times while forcing 10 of its opponent’s giveaways. Both teams shot approximately 50 percent in front of the cage.

“I thought the defense played extraordinarily well against a high-powered offense,” senior attacker Barb Previ said. “I don’t think that we did anything wrong for the entire game, but rather that we had some momentary lapses where they went on runs, and those are tough to make up. I think we could have stopped some more of their backdoors and strong-side cuts because they caught us a couple times on those.”

According to new rules in women’s lacrosse, when a player receives a yellow card that sends her off the field for two minutes, her team must play a man down on both ends of the field. Duke and Princeton each committed two penalties on Saturday, but only the Blue Devils could take advantage.

“We had two man-up opportunities we didn’t capitalize on, and Duke capitalized on both of theirs,” Sailer said. “That is the margin of victory.”

When the first draw went up, the Tigers grabbed it and took the ball into a settled offense, waiting patiently for a good opportunity to go to the goal. Two minutes into the game, sophomore attacker Mary-Kate Sivilli fed from behind the goal to senior midfielder Cassie Pyle, who was ready on the crease to put in the first goal of the game. A foul on the Tigers’ defense gave Duke an eight-meter shot, which Makenzie Hommel bounced past freshman goalie Annie Woehling to even the score at one.

The Blue Devils soon struck with two quick back-to-back goals. Kim Wenger’s one-on-one drive resulted in a shot high into the netting for the first, and a spin on the crease allowed Kerrin Maurer to get inside her defender and place it into the corner just 25 seconds later.

A similar setup gave the hosts their second goal, as freshman attacker Erin McMunn found Previ flashing across the eight-meter arc with a pass from behind the cage. But Duke converted another free position opportunity with a pass to an open Molly Quirke, sitting unmarked on the crease. And on its first man-up attack, Duke worked the ball around quickly to find Maurer, who slotted the ball home again to put the Blue Devils ahead 5-2.

The Tigers responded with two straight goals. Sivilli added a point with a free-position shot and junior midfielder Charlotte Davis split three Duke defenders near the restraining line and went straight in for another goal, making it a one-score game again.

But the Blue Devils made a save and sent the ball up ield on a transition that resulted in an easy goal with eight minutes, 16 seconds remaining in the half. With less than two minutes to go, freshman midfielder Erin Slifer passed to the top of the eight-meter arc, where sophomore midfielder Sarah Lloyd made the catch and took it hard to net and scored high. As time ran out, the scoreboard reflected the close play from the first half at 6-5.

“We did a good job transitioning onto the attack,” Sailer said. “We switched to a man ride to try and stop their fast break and get them into a settled offense, and we mostly did that.”

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Duke came out strong at the beginning of the second half, netting four goals in nine minutes before the Tigers were able to add a scoring tally.

“In a tight game against a tough opponent, sometimes one run or one lapse can end up determining the game,” Previ said.

Junior attacker Jaci Gassaway ended the Blue Devils’ streak at 20:53 with a hard, high shot that was assisted by McMunn. The teams traded goals midway through the half. Duke’s wide spread offensive found a gap in the center to add a goal, but the Tigers responded when Previ put in her second of the game, this time off of a free position.

Following Previ’s goal, Princeton began closing the gap in the final 10 minutes. Lloyd converted a high, hard shot from far away at 9:31 for her second goal of the game. The Tigers grabbed the subsequent draw control, and Pyle drove around the crease to the front of the cage to bring the score to 11-9.

“I think the attack did well today to move the ball around and generate opportunities for multiple players in some different ways,” Previ said.

The next draw control was pivotal, and Duke came up with it and was able to stall. Almost six minutes ticked off the clock with possession in the Blue Devils’ sticks. A key save by Woehling at 3:20 gave the Tigers a final chance to make their comeback. However, when the ball reached the attack, Princeton turned it over, and Duke brought the ball back the other way to score a final goal and seal the victory.

“I think this was a really good game for us compared to Wednesday night,” Sailer said, referencing the Tigers’ surprising loss to Rutgers at home. “We dictated the tempo better, were more patient [and] executed our shooting better. We fought until the end, which says a lot about our team. We know we are capable of great things and are excited to start the Ivy season.”

“This week, we are going to work on all aspects of our game,” Sailer added. “We will focus on the draw control, a critical element. We were outplayed on the circle in the last two games, so we want to change that.”

The Tigers travel to Brown Saturday afternoon for their first Ivy League game of the season. Last year, Princeton dominated the Bears 17-5 in its conference opener.

“It is nice not to have a mid-week game, so we can get in five practices before we play Brown on Saturday,” Sailer said.