Princeton Tops Women's Lacrosse 9-8 in NCAA Quarterfinal

Post-game Quotes

Princeton Sports Information

PRINCETON, N.J. - Princeton's Lauren Simone (So., Delran, N.J.) scored the game-winning goal with 41 seconds remaining in the first sudden victory period to send the second-seeded Tigers to the NCAA Final Four for the first time since 1996.

With the win Princeton improves to 14-3 on the year and will face James Madison, a 12-5 winner over Virginia, on Friday, May 19, in the national semifinal at the College of New Jersey at 8:30 p.m. The No. 7 Blue Devils finish their season at 11-6 overall.

Tricia Martin got the Blue Devils on the board first when she took a pass from Lauren Gallagher and scored her 35th goal of the year with 3:03 expired in the first half. Simone scored her first of four goals on the day just 48 seconds later to knot the score at 1-1. Duke would reel off three consecutive goals, including another by Martin, to take a 4-1 lead at the 23:12 mark. The Tigers cut the lead in half when Kim Smith (So., Baltimore, Md.) tallied a free position goal with less than three minutes to play in the first half, and Duke led 4-2 at halftime.

Princeton exploded in second half with five unanswered goals in the first 15 minutes after intermission, sparked by two goals each by Simone and Charlotte Kenworthy (So., Frazier, Pa.), to take a 7-4 lead at the 46:32 mark. Kate Kaiser ended Duke's scoring drought with a goal with just more than 10 minutes remaining. Martin scored her third goal of the day with 9:24 to play to draw the Blue Devils to within one goal at 7-6. Whitney Miller (Fr., Bishopville, Md.)-the 2000 Ivy League Rookie of the Year-gave Princeton the two-goal cushion when she scored her 19th goal of the season with seven minutes to play.

The Blue Devils would not go down without a fight, as a goal by Kaiser followed by a score by Gallagher tied the score at 8-8 with 1:37 left on the clock. The Tigers missed a free position opportunity with 38 second to play, and the score remained tied at the end of regulation.

Neither team found the back of the net in the six minute overtime session, sending the game into sudden victory. The Tigers won the draw, but Simone had the ball knocked out of her stick near the goal, and the Blue Devils regained possession. Senior co-captain Hilary Maddox (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) came up with a timely check and ground ball to give Princeton possession with a minute to play. Simone drove hard to the goal, picking up the foul and the free position opportunity. Simone's eight-meter shot found its way past Duke goalie Shannon Chaney high on the weak side for the game-winning goal.

Princeton goalie Laura Field (Sr., Mystic, Conn.) made six saves in net, while Chaney turned away 11 Tiger shots.

Behind Simone's four goals, Kenworthy added two scores, and Smith, Miller and Maddox each had one goal. Duke was paced by three goals by Martin and two by Kaiser.

The victory gave Princeton its first 14-win season since 1995, the same year the NCAA finals were last held in Trenton.

No. 2 Princeton 9, No. 7 Duke 8 (sudden victory)

                           1  2  ot ot sv    F 
Duke (11-6, 1-2 ACC)       4  4  0  0  0 --- 8 
Princeton (14-3, 6-1 Ivy)  2  6  0  0  1 --- 9 

Scoring - First Half PU-DU 
DU - Tricia Martin (Lauren Gallagher), 3:03 0-1 
PU - Lauren Simon, 3:51 1-1 
DU - Kate Soulier (Courtney Rodgers), 9:24 1-2 
DU - Kelly Dirks (free position), 11:28 1-3 
DU - Martin, 23:12 1-4 
PU - Kim Smith (free position), 27:38 2-4 

Scoring - Second Half PU-DU 
PU - Charlotte Kenworthy (Whitney Miller), 32:39 3-4 
PU - Hilary Madox (Simone), 40:50 4-4 
PU - Kenworthy (free position), 43:46 5-4 
PU - Simone (free position), 44:23 6-4 
PU - Simone (free position), 46:32 7-4 
DU - Kate Kaiser (free position), 50:59 7-5 
DU - Martin (free position), 51:36 7-6 
PU - Miller, 53:05 8-6 
DU - Kaiser, 55:11 8-7 
DU - Gallagher (free position), 58:23 8-8 

Scoring - Overtime PU-DU 
None 8-8 

Scoring - First sudden victory PU-DU 
PU - Simone, 68:39 9-8 

Shots: Duke 14, Princeton 42 
Goalie Saves: Shannon Chaney (Duke) 11 (68:39 min., 9 GA) 
Laura Field (Princeton) 6 (68:39 min., 8 GA) 
Free-Position Opportunities: Princeton 4 x 12, Duke 5 x 8 
Ground Balls: Duke 23, Princeton 23 
Caused Turnovers: Duke 13, Princeton 14 
Turnovers: Duke 18, Princeton 11 
Draw Controls: Princeton 15 x 21, Duke 6 x 21 
Fouls: Duke 36, Princeton 12 

Duke Scoring: 
Goals - Martin 3, Kaiser 2, Soulier, Gallagher, Dirks 
Assists - Gallagher, Rodgers 

Princeton Scoring: 
Goals -- Simone 4, Kenworthy 2, Smith, Miller, Maddox 
Assists - Simone, Miller