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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Duke
Biles Sparks Late Run, Helps No. 1 Women's Lacrosse to 7-4 Win at No. 5 Duke
March 16, 2005 | Women's Lacrosse
March 16, 2005
Box Score
DURHAM, N.C. - Lindsey Biles has already put her name in the Princeton recordbooks as one of the top offensive players in team history. Wednesday afternoon against Duke, however, it was a defensive play from Biles that kept the top-ranked Tigers unbeaten.
With the game tied at 4-4 with under six minutes left, Biles stripped the ball from Duke goalie Megan Huether behind the goal and streaked in front to score on an open net, giving Princeton the lead. 5:22 later, thanks to Biles' play and a key insurance goal from Kathleen Miller with 2:15 left, the Tigers had a 7-4 win over the Blue Devils on a frigid, rainy day in Durham. "I've been working hard on my re-defending this season," said Biles, who was held scoreless in the first half but had two second-half goals. "I was able to strip the goalie and all there was left was an open net."
"Lindsey may be the best attacker in the country at being aggressive and getting the ball back as a defender," said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer. "We needed a big play, and she made it for us."
After Biles' goal gave Princeton a 5-4 lead, Princeton goalie Sarah Kolodner made a key save on Duke's Katie Chrest to keep Princeton ahead and give her team possession. The Tigers then worked the clock well until 2:15 remained, when Elizabeth Pillion's pass found Miller, whose right-handed shot found the upper left-hand corner of the net to give the Tigers a 6-4 advantage.
Leigh Slonaker's goal with five seconds left provided the final margin for Princeton, which improved to 7-2 all-time against Duke.
Until Princeton's three-goal run to end the game, the game's biggest story was the rain and cold weather that contributed to 32 combined turnovers between the two teams. The game was moved from the grass at Duke's Koskinen Stadium to a FieldTurf surface adjacent to the stadium due to the foul weather.
"It seems like whenever we play Duke it's been wet or cold or both," said Kolodner, who recovered from an off game this past Sunday to make nine saves today. "Duke had possession for a lot of the second half, but we did a good job of keeping them from having a lot of good opportunities."
Princeton scored the game's first three goals, including an unusual one from Ingrid Goldberg just 14 seconds into the game after an errant Duke pass, and held a 3-0 lead 12 minutes in. But Duke then began to control possession and got two goals from Rachel Sanford later in the half to pull within 3-2 at halftime.
The Blue Devils would tie the game at 3-3 on Leigh Jester's goal 1:32 into the second half, but Princeton's Biles took a feed from Miller four minutes later to put the Tigers back ahead 4-3. Chrest's goal with 20:27 left tied the game at 4-4, but the Blue Devils wouldn't score again.
Duke outshot Princeton 22-14, including 13-6 in the second half, but Kolodner made five of her saves in the final 30 minutes.
Miller had a goal and an assist for Princeton, which won its 24th straight regular-season game.
The Tigers, who moved into the No. 1 spot in this week's IWLCA poll after top-ranked Virginia lost to Penn State last weekend, host the Nittany Lions at Class of 1952 Stadium Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.).