Despite one of its better efforts of the year, the Lady Dragon lacrosse team learned it’s the little things that can mean the difference between winning and losing.

In a back-and-forth battle that saw neither team ever lead by more than two goals, Duxbury saw its 12-10 lead with nine minutes to go disappear in a 13-12 loss to No. 8 ranked Hopkinton. Hopkinton’s record now stands at 12-3, while Duxbury dropped to 10-5.

“We made some mistakes at critical times that they capitalized on,” said Duxbury Coach Kelly Jurgens. “It’s the little things that we need to make happen in order to make a difference in tight games like these.”

After gaining control of the opening face-off, Duxbury worked the clock for over a minute in the Hopkinton end, yet failed to score. They made up for it immediately, when they picked off a clearing pass by Hillers’ netminder Jackie Chirco and turned it into a Kerri Gould score on a pass from Charlotte Cipolletti.

Sophomore phenom Tess Chandler would tie the game at 1-1 on a shot into the top corner on a free position in front of goalie Sophie Fitzpatrick.

A Molly Zaverucha goal got the lead back, but the Hillers went ahead with two goals by Dana Gogolin, who went in all alone from midfield to beat Fitzpatrick to make it 3-2.

Duxbury was determined to stay close and they did, as junior midfielder Emily Horton took a pass from Gould and beat Chirco in close to tie the game at 3-3.

Less than a minute later the Lady Dragons were back in front, as Hannah Murphy sprinted from 40 yards out to to beat Chirco after taking a pass from Dorothy Hellar.

It took just nine seconds for Duxbury to grab a two-goal advantage when senior captain Siobahn McCarthy took the face-off and motored toward the net, feeding Gould for a 5-3 lead with 14:36 left in the first half.

Despite the two-goal margin, the Lady Dragons had to contend with Hopkinton’s trio of offensive threats, who were held scoreless for six minutes until Tamara Mills cut the lead to one when she circled the defense and came around to beat Fitzpatrick.

Iona College-bound Olivia McCarthy got it right back 18 second later when she broke in from the left side and beat Chirco with a shot along the ground that caught the far corner.

The dormant Mills erupted for two more goals in a 24-second span to tie the game at 6-6 with 9:17 showing on the clock, and Chandler notched her 100th career goal two minutes later to give the Hillers a 7-6 lead.

Zaverucha wouldn’t let her teammates fall any further behind, so she raced in from the left side and crossed in front of Chirco, firing back across her body and beating the netminder to tie the game at 7-7.

Both sides went silent over the next five minutes until the Lady Dragons gained possession with a minute to go in the half. Working the clock with hopes of going into the break with a lead, they worked the ball into Gould in the corner where she broke on net and scored with 30 seconds to go in the half.

The see-saw battle would continue the rest of the afternoon, with two more goals by Mills putting Hopkinton ahead 10-9 with 16:38 left in the game. Duxbury countered with a trio of its own by Zaverucha and Murphy (2) putting the hosts ahead once again at 12-10.

With 9:02 left to go it would be Duxbury’s last scoring for the afternoon.

A Chandler goal with 5:55 to go made it 12-11 and Duxbury was hoping to hold on for dear life. Unfortunately, an accidental stick to the head of Hopkinton’s Brooks Rudden by McCarthy sent the senior off for three minutes and gave Rudden a free position on which she scored to tie the game at 12-12.

Rudden would be the game’s hero, as she tried to push her way through the Duxbury defense with 2:26 on the clock, only to have a foul called and give her a free position for the game winner with 2:13 to go.

Duxbury would have several chances in the final two minutes, only to have shots sail over the net as their chance at a victory went by the boards.

“Our draw controls kept us in the game and we kept up our attack when we got them,” said Jurgens. “Our defense was great and our doubles came quick. Everyone played their hearts out.”

After Friday’s home game with Whitman-Hanson, the regular season will end next Wednesday when the Lady Dragons travel to Weston for a 4 p.m. contest.