A crowd of more than 700 was on hand to witness the women’s lacrosse team play the first game of a doubleheader as part of the dedication of Reese Stadium on Saturday. But despite the festivities, the Bulldogs (2–9, 0–4 Ivy) lost 9–3 to No. 12 Princeton (6–3, 3–0).

Yale is still tied for last place in the Ivy League with Columbia, which is also winless in the conference. The win kept Princeton in a three-way tie for the lead in the Ancient Eight.

“We fought hard but I think Princeton was a good team, said midfielder Adrienne Tarver ’14. “I think mainly we just struggled to take good shots.”

Princeton’s victory on Saturday came in spite of 18 saves from junior goalie Whitney Quackenbush ’12. Quackenbush also limited Princeton to an 0-for-3 performance from the eight-meter arc. The junior ranks fourth in the Ivy League in both goals against average (10.94) and save percentage (.457).

“Whitney had an amazing game but we couldn’t get enough goals to win but I was really proud of her,” Caroline Crow ’12 said.

Sophomore midfielder Devon Rhodes ’13 scored the first goal for the Bulldogs less than four minutes into the first half to tie the game at 1–1. But Rhodes’ goal was the only Yale score of the half, and Princeton entered halftime with a 4–1 lead.

By the time Yale scored again — 19:27 into the second half — the Tigers had a 6–1 lead. The goal came when freshman attacker Jen DeVito ’14 stopped Princeton’s run and converted a free-position shot into a second goal for the Bulldogs. Four minutes after, DeVito scored on another free-position shot. Princeton scored the final two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game to seal the 9–3 win.

The game on Saturday attracted a large crowd because of the dedication ceremony of Reese Stadium, which is named after Jason Reese ’87 and Jon Reese ’90. Formerly known as the Soccer-Lacrosse Stadium, the facility, which is currently being renovated, has a seating capacity of 3,000. In 1995, the stadium was used as the main soccer venue for the Special Olympics World Games.

Yale has enjoyed a bit of a home field advantage at Reese this season. The last game Yale played at Reese was a 10–7 victory against Colgate.

In addition to the Reese dedication, the Bulldogs held a moment of silence for former women’s ice hockey player Mandi Schwartz ’11, who passed away last Sunday after spending more than two years battling cancer. The team also wore special wristbands in Mandi’s honor.

The game was followed by the men’s lacrosse game against Dartmouth. The women’s team will play against Columbia on Friday, their fourth-to-last game of the season.

Logan Greer ’11 and several other players said they hoped to reduce the number of turnovers for the next game.

“It will be a good opportunity to rebound,” Greer said.