A close battle between a pair of Top-10 teams hung in the balance until late in the second half, but No. 9 Princeton came up just short to No. 8 Virginia, 12-10, in the home opener for the Tigers. Neither side led by more than three goals and there were six ties during the course of the game as neither side had a chance to feel completely comfortable until the Cavaliers built a 12-9 lead with 4:19 to play. Even then, the Tigers scored just 0:26 later off a Maria Pansini strike and had a hint of momentum until Virginia won the ensuing draw and maintained possession the rest of the way. Kari Buonnano had two goals and two assists for the Tigers, while Kyla Sears added three goals. Grace Tauckus pitched in two goals, while Kate Mulham had a goal and two assists. Defensively, Marge Donovan had three caused turnovers, three ground balls and two draw controls. Ultimately, Virginia put together a strong defensive stand in the send half, conceding just two goals and holding the Tigers off the scoreboard for 20:20 of gameplay while turning what was an 8-7 Princeton lead into a 10-8 Cavaliers advantage. The first half was more offensive-focused as the team teams combined for 15 goals on 39 total shots. UVA struck first and built a 2-0 lead off a pair of Lillie Kloak goals over the first 5:23. Princeton countered with the next two as Sears and Lucie Gildehaus tied the game. After Virginia regained a one-goal lead, the Tigers scored five of the game's next seven goals to take a 7-5 lead with 10:39 remaining in the half. Kari Buonnano scored twice in that span, as did Sears. Two Virginia goals in a span of 0:52 tied the game at 7-7, but a pair of Princeton freshmen connected just before halftime to send the Tigers to the break with a one-goal edge. After a Virginia save, Buonnano picked off a clearing attempt and broke in on a 2-on-1 with Grace Tauckus who took the Buonnano pass and quickly beat the goalie. Unfortunately, the Tigers did not score again for over twenty minutes. Princeton was stingy on defense as well, forcing two Virginia shot clock violation, but just couldn't gain traction on offense to climb back into the game. Princeton makes a short trip to Villanova on Wednesday, taking on the Wildcats on February 26 at 2 p.m.