Hamm?s Late Goal Lifts Blue Devils Past Princeton

Saturday, March 7

Durham, N.C.

12:00 p.m.

Duke University

Princeton

Hamm?s Late Goal Lifts Blue Devils Past Princeton

3/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? A goal by sophomore Emma Hamm with one minute left on the clock Saturday lifted the fourth-ranked Duke women's lacrosse team to a 13-12 victory over No. 8 Princeton in a game of runs at Koskinen Stadium. The game had been tied five times on the afternoon and was knotted at 12 with just one minute remaining when Hamm juked her defender and sent the ball into the top of the net to put the Blue Devils back on top for good.

Duke improves to 5-1 with the victory, while the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season and drop to 2-1.

“We wanted to make sure we continued to attack, and there was a good stretch there where we weren't attacking ? but in the second half, we made some adjustments defensively,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel. “Our slides were a little better and we made a goalie switch [to freshman Mollie Mackler]. I don't know if that was the difference or not, but it was a change.”

“Princeton is an awesome team and they gave us a hell of a game, which we knew they would. We're grateful that we were able to hold on and win this one.”

Hamm was one of five Blue Devils to tally two goals on the day ? joining seniors Caroline Cryer, Carolyn Davis, and Megan Del Monte and junior Lindsay Gilbride. Sarah Bullard, Kim Wenger, and Caroline Spearman added one goal each. Spearman's goal was the first of the season and second of her career for the sophomore.

Duke saw itself in an early hole after Princeton started off with a 3-0 run to take control at the outset. But the Blue Devils answered back with three straight of their own to tie it at three apiece with 20:09 left in the second half ? the first a free position shot for Gilbride, followed by an unassisted Davis tally and a Cryer free position goal all within a three minute span. Duke would go on to score the next two goals to build a 5-3 lead on another unassisted goal for Davis and a Cryer goal on a perfect pass from Davis as Cryer faked the keeper out and sent it over her left shoulder.

Princeton fought back to tie it at five with 8:04 left in the first half on a goal for Holly McGarvie, before Wenger, Gilbride, and Bullard unleashed another 3-0 Blue Devil run to get back up, 8-5. The Tigers scored the last two of the half to bring it to 8-7 at the break.

Princeton tied it at eight apiece at the 27:50 mark in the second frame, a goal for Lizzy Drumm off a pass from McGarvie. The contest was tied again, this time at nine, before Duke scored three in a row to re-establish the three-goal advantage at 12-9. The first of the Duke run came on a free position attempt for Hamm, which was followed by an unassisted Del Monte goal and Spearman's free position chance.

The Tigers would keep it interesting as they turned in another 3-0 run of their own, getting late tallies from three different players. It was knotted at 12 with just 3:41 showing on the clock before it appeared Princeton had converted on the go-ahead goal at the 2:59 mark. But the Tigers' Sarah Steele ? who finished with three goals on the day ? was called for an illegal stick and the goal was called off.

With the chance to take another late lead, the Blue Devils held control in their offensive end with the clock ticking down, before Hamm saw an opening as she held the ball on the right side, took it at the goal and found the shot to give Duke the 13-12 lead with a minute remaining. The Duke defense forced a late Tiger turnover as the Blue Devils held on for the dramatic win.

Princeton was led by Steele's hat trick on the day, while Christine Casaceli, McGarvie, Drumm, and Kristin Morrison each had two for the Tigers in the loss.

Duke held the 33-26 advantage in the shot column and won 17 draws to Princeton's 10. Ground balls were even at 25.

Mackler and Senior Kim Imbesi shared time in the net this afternoon, with Imbesi recording five stops in the first half and the freshman picking up four in the second half ? including two big saves on Tiger free position chances.

Next up for the Blue Devils will be another one at home, as Duke hosts No. 12 Vanderbilt (1-2) in a midweek match-up on Wed., March 11 at 2:30 p.m. The start time was bumped up after the Duke-Vandy game was originally slated for 3:30.

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