The Duke women's lacrosse team (5-2) lost its second straight game, a 13-5 decision to the Princeton Tigers (4-1), on a rain-soaked field in Princeton, N.J., Wednesday. Princeton senior Kim Smith scored five times in the first half and the Tigers built an insurmountable 8-0 halftime lead.
"I'm disappointed," Duke coach Kerstin Kimel said. "Coming off the Carolina game, I thought we would have a better performance, and we didn't."
The pounding began when Smith scored the first goal only 1:44 into the contest. Teammate Theresa Sherry scored her 12th goal of the season less than a minute later, and Smith scored again at 3:54 to the Tigers up 3-0.
Things only got worse for the Blue Devils. Tiger senior Charlotte Kenworthy scored on a free position, and then Smith scored on back-to-back goals.
Smith ended her remarkable half with a goal on a free possession 27:24 into the game.
"We gave [Smith] a lot," Kimel said. "We tried to face guard her out of the game. She didn't score a goal in the second half, which I think was a good thing."
Corrine Broseler and Meg Barnet opened the second half with two un-answered goals for Duke.
Theresa Sherry and Mimmi Hammerberg snatched away Duke's brief hope for a comeback when they, too, each scored unanswered goals. The game was never in question after that stretch.
Lauren Gallagher also had an assist.
"Lauren is trying to do an awful lot," Kimel said. "She's trying to make up for some things we don't have. We were a team that was overmatched today."
Princeton seemed to have a large home-field advantage because of inclement weather, but Kimel did not feel it had anything to do with her team's play.
"It was cold. It was pouring rain," Kimel said. "But we've practiced in weather like what we saw in Princeton today. I don't think [the weather] is the reason why we played the way we did."
Duke returns to action March 24, when it hosts Georgetown at noon in Koskinen Stadium.
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