PRINCETON, N.J. - Bill Johnson once said, "Statistics are like a salve. You rub them on your wounds after a loss and you feel better."
At the post game press conference following Duke's heartbreaking 9-8 triple-overtime loss Sunday to No. 2 Princeton, Duke coach Kerstin Kimel found the statistics chart anything but soothing. As she glanced at the great disparity of fouls called, Kimel could only mutter in disbelief, "Thirty-six fouls, that's ridiculous."
The 36 fouls called against the seventh-ranked Blue Devils (11-6) marked a season-high, surpassing their previous record when they were whistled for 20 against Georgetown back on March 25.
Duke survived the first 35 fouls, but it was whistle No. 36 that hammered home the nail in its season's coffin. That foul gave Princeton's Lauren Simone a free-position shot inside the 8-meter hash with just over a minute remaining in the third overtime period. With no defenders to prevent her scoring attempt, Simone managed to get a shot just past Duke goalie Shannon Chaney as Princeton advanced to this weekend's Final Four.
"That is my favorite spot to shoot from," Simone said. "I wasn't really nervous. I knew I had to shoot high and I stuck it."
The Blue Devils acknowledged the tremendous play of Princeton, but they were disappointed
"It's such a shame to lose like that," said a tearful Kate Kaiser. "You work so hard for so long. I give Princeton credit. It was a great shot, but on a free position. I feel like those are gimmes."
Despite the disparity of foul calls, Duke had numerous opportunities to topple the Tigers and advance to the Final Four for the second time in as many years.
In the second overtime, Kate Soulier fed Lauren Gallagher just outside the crease, but Tiger goalie Laura Field stopped Gallagher's would-be game-winning goal.
"We got some really good looks in the overtime period," Kimel said. "Lauren Gallagher had that tremendous shot and I thought that was it, the game was over. But things weren't falling. I think that the ball bounced Princeton's way this game."
In the first half, however, everything was bouncing Duke's way. The Blue Devils got into the scoring column early when All-American Tricia Martin notched her 35th goal of the year just three minutes into the match. Duke built its lead to 4-1 after Kelly Dirks and Soulier each added a goal, but Princeton battled back in the second half.
"Like any team, they're going to come out playing hard in the second half, especially when they're down," Chaney said. "They're a great team and they're going to come back hard no matter what the score is. If you don't get the job done the first half, you come back the second half and get the job done, and that's what they did."
Princeton reeled off six consecutive goals, including three on free position shots, in an 18-minute span to claim its first lead of the contest at 7-4.
But then it was the Blue Devils' turn to mount their own valiant comeback. Kaiser and Martin scored free position goals in the second stanza just 37 seconds apart to trim the Tiger lead to one, 7-6.
The Blue Devils managed to dig themselves entirely out of the hole when Lauren Gallagher knotted the score at eight on a free position with just 1:37 remaining in regulation. Before Gallagher's score, Kaiser posted her second goal to pull within one with just under five minutes left to play.
The loss to Princeton came on the heels of a thrilling one-goal victory over Dartmouth at Koskinen Stadium last Thursday. The win was Duke's second of the season over Dartmouth, and it once again began talk of Final Fours and national titles to Durham.
Although the Blue Devils did not accomplish their ultimate goal of a national championship this year, they did send a message to the rest of the lacrosse world that last year's run to the Final Four was not a fluke.
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