PRINCETON--If the Princeton women's lacrosse team was looking to make a statement Saturday afternoon against Duke at rainy Princeton Stadium, consider it done. The No. 7 Tigers got seven goals from senior Katie Lewis-Lamonica, including three straight as Princeton began to take control in the first half and two straight as the Tigers pulled away in the second half, in a 13-8 win that handed the No. 3 Blue Devils their first loss of the season.

Lewis-Lamonica, who also scored seven goals against Temple last season, didn't play at all against Rutgers Wednesday night due to an ankle injury suffered two weeks ago. But the Princeton senior came out with a vengeance on Saturday, scoring five minutes into the put her team ahead for good at 2-1, then again seven minutes later and then again six minutes after that to make it 4-1.

She then had two straight goals midway through the second half that began a four-goal Tiger run that made it 11-5 with 14 minutes left after Christine Casaceli's nice one-on-one move.

"I think as a team we were really ready to play tonight," said Lewis-Lamonica, who scored on seven of her nine shots. "I felt good and the injury didn't really bother me. "I don't know if you expect someone ever to come out and score seven goals, but Lewey obviously made a huge difference for us today," said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer. "

In what was probably Princeton's most impressive victory since a win over the Blue Devils in Durham three seasons ago, Princeton (3-0) never trailed. Duke (5-1) was within 7-5 after Emma Hamm's eight-meter shot three minutes into the second half, but that's when the Tigers began their four-goal run.

Duke was within 11-7 with 12 minutes left, but freshman Lizzy Drumm responded on the other end for Princeton two minutes later to make it 12-7. The Blue Devils also got within four at 12-8 with 1:47 left and won the next draw control, but Holly McGarvie intercepted a pass after that and the Tigers ran out the clock.

Casaceli had three goals for Princeton, while McGarvie had two goals and Ashley Amo had three assists. The Tigers were efficient from the get-go, scoring on 13 of their 22 shots. Princeton also got solid play in goal from Kaitlyn Perrelle, who had six saves, including a pair on eight-meter opportunities.

The Tigers have a week off before playing at Penn State next Saturday.

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PRINCETON, N.J. --- The No. 3 Duke Blue Devils lost its first game of the season to Princeton, 13-8, on Saturday afternoon in stormy conditions at the Class of 1952 Stadium. Duke never led and did not tie the game after 1-1.

Duke was held to its lowest goal total of the season in the heavy wind and rain, and its three goals in the first period were the lowest half output for the Blue Devils since they scored just one goal in the second stanza against Northwestern on April 7, 2007.

Junior midfielder Carolyn Davis, junior attacked Megan Del Monte and freshman midfielder Emma Hamm each tallied two goals to lead Duke, and Del Monte added Duke's only assist on the day. Duke outshot Princeton, 25-22, but was only able to put 14 shots on goals while Princeton did that 18 times.

On defense Duke caused nine turnovers and Princeton turned the ball over a total of 21 times. However, the Blue Devils' 17 turnovers-- of which the Tigers caused 10-- did not make that statistic have much of an impact.

The main source of trouble for Duke defensively was Princeton's Katie Lewis-Lamonica. The senior midfielder accounted for seven goals on the afternoon as Duke was unable to find an answer for the Tewaaraton Trophy watch list nominee. Junior attacker Christine Casaceli added three scores for Princeton and only two more Tigers found the back of the net.

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2008-03-08