BEDEVILED: Princeton University women’s lacrosse player Barb Previ heads to goal last Saturday against Duke. Senior attacker Previ scored two goals in a losing cause as Princeton fell 12-9 to the Blue Devils. The Tigers, now 1-2 and ranked 17th nationally, will open Ivy League action, when they play at Brown (2-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy) on March 10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

It was a rough week for the Princeton University women’s lacrosse team.

On Wednesday evening, the Tigers fell 11-10 in double overtime to Rutgers and then three days later Princeton came up short again in a 12-9 loss to No. 5 Duke.

But in assessing the loss to Duke on Saturday, Princeton head coach Chris Sailer sees some good weeks ahead.

“I thought we really showed a lot of fight; it was definitely a much improved effort from Wednesday night,” said Sailer, whose team dropped to 1-2 in the wake of the defeat to the Blue Devils.

“I think we are almost there. We just made a few critical mistakes that gave them a goal or took away an opportunity from us.”

The Tigers spent Saturday playing from behind as they battled to overcome those mistakes. Princeton fell behind 5-2 and then fought back to trail Duke by just 6-5 at halftime.

After getting outscored 5-1 in the early stages of the second half, the Tigers mounted another rally, scoring three unanswered goals to get within 11-9. But with Duke controlling possession, Princeton could never get closer than that.

In Sailer’s view, her team ran out of time at the end. “Duke did a great job of stalling the ball, they killed clock,” said Sailer.

“We were able to get out and get a little pressure on them and get a couple of more chances towards the end. We just couldn’t get another score. I was really pleased with the way our kids competed today.”

The Tigers need to fine tune a few aspects of their game in order to get ahead of the competition.

“We have to spend more time on penalty situations; we were 0-for-2 and they were 2-for-2 and that’s the game right there,” said Sailer.

“We had a couple of mistakes on plays, whether it was ground balls around the crease or a slide here or there. And then the draw controls, we have been working on them a lot this week and we are going to continue to. We have to win more of the ones that are on the ground or in the air so that is going to continue to be a focus.”

Sailer liked the focus displayed by senior All-American defender Lindsey deButts.

“I thought Lindsey did well today,” said Sailer of deButts, who had four caused turnovers and two ground balls on the day. “She had some big steals; she really stood out.”

On offense Princeton showed balance as Barb Previ, Sarah Lloyd, and Cassie Pyle scored two goals apiece with Mary-Kate Sivilli, Jaci Gassaway, and Charlotte Davis chipping in one each.

“It was a lot of different people scoring; it wasn’t one person doing all the scoring,” said Sailer.

Promising freshmen Erin McMunn and Erin Slifer also made an impact, showing skill and savvy.

“McMunn had two nice assists; she is definitely fitting in,” added Sailer. “Slifer is a stud through the midfield area; she is mature and very strong.”

With Princeton starting Ivy League play with a game at Brown (2-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy) on March 10, Sailer believes her team will be stronger after taking its lumps this week.

“We are excited to have the whole week to practice before we open our Ivy League season,” said Sailer, whose team is ranked 17th nationally in this week’s Inside Lacrosse media poll.

“We are in the first week of competition; we are going to continue to learn and improve all season long.”