Players Mentioned

Duke Ends Princeton's Run at the NCAA Quarterfinals
May 16, 2015 | Women's Lacrosse
Box Score
DURHAM, N.C. (5/16/15) – The Princeton women's lacrosse team was held to its fewest goals in a game in nine years as the stingy Duke defense went to work in the NCAA quarterfinals to take a 7-3 win at Koskinen Stadium on Saturday, May 16.
The last time Princeton was held to just three goals in a game was on March 25, 2006, against Virginia.
“I give a lot of credit to Duke,” Princeton head coach Chris Sailer said. “They played great defense against us and really took us out of the offense that we really like to play. And it was an incredibly hard fought game. I thought our defense played phenomenally well and caused so many turnovers, and our kids showed a lot of heart on the field and I'm incredibly proud of the season that we had and the players like Slif [Erin Slifer].”
Time of possession was key to Princeton's 3-1 deficit at halftime. It was the first time since April 30, 2010, that Princeton was held to just one goal in a half. Princeton committed seven turnovers in the first half and won just one of five draw controls.
Duke won the opening draw but an overthrown pass by Taylor Trimble gave Princeton the ball. Junior Anya Gersoff scored her 22nd goal of the season as she dodged Trimble on the other end and scored to make it 1-0 Princeton at 27:02.
Maddie Crutchfield converted on the first free-position opportunity of the game, to tie it up at 22:14.
Sophomore Ellie DeGarmo made her first of eight saves in the game after Duke won its third straight draw on a shot by Maddy Acton. After Camille Sullivan got he ground ball Princeton turned it over and Acton scored to give Duke its first lead at 19:34.
Leading scorer Kerrin Maurer expanded the Duke lead to 3-1 at 6:01 off a restart in the arc.
Sophomore Olivia Hompe kept her goal-scoring streak alive, at 19 straight games, as she scored just 37 seconds into the second half. It was an excellent feed from senior Erin Slifer that moved her into second place all time at Princeton in assists with 81, behind teammate Erin McMunn who has 92. Slifer passed from the left side of the arc to the right post where Hompe was stationed for the goal to cut it to a one-goal game, 3-2.
Two straight Duke goals in just over two minutes forced Princeton to call a timeout at 24:53. Kyra Harney ran in from behind the goal and went high before Chelsea Landon's goal.
McMunn was a key force in Princeton's next goal as she forced a turnover on Isabelle Montagne, picked up the ground ball and feed sophomore Lauren Steidl for the shot straight on to make it 5-3 at 22:14.
The Blue Devils had a pretty play as Erin Tenneson feed Maurer for her second goal of the game to make it 6-3 at 15:26. Maurer was the only player in the game to have more than one point.
Trimble added a late goal with 8.8 seconds left to earn the win and advance to championship weekend in Philadelphia.
“We hit a couple of posts early and our shots weren't falling,” Sailer said. “I thought [Claire] Scarrone played great on Olivia Hompe and I think they played great individual and team defense to take us out of the lanes that we like, the feeds that we like. It's very unusual for us to score three goals in a game, and you have to credit them for that.”
“Like Chris said they were playing great team defense, all of their slides were there,” Slifer said. “The feeds we look for they were able to slide to. I think we were able to get some shots off, and got a lot more off in the second half than compared to six in the first half, but they were there, they were on our hands and they made some good saves.”
In front of DeGarmo, junior Liz Bannantine caused three turnovers and picked up three ground balls.
Duke outshot Princeton 20-16 and won eight draws to Princeton's four. Each team had 11 turnovers.
Kelsey Duryea made five saves in goal for the Blue Devils. Duke now 16-4 will face North Carolina, which defeated Penn State today, in the semifinals.
Princeton concludes its season at 16-4 in its 23rd NCAA tournament appearance.