Women's lacrosse downs Penn by 15-goal margin

When the Penn women's lacrosse team scored two goals within a minute of each other with eight minutes, three seconds to play in the first half — bringing the score within four at 7-3 — it was not instigating a rally. The Quakers were just finishing up.

Princeton (11-1 overall, 4-1 Ivy) scored 10 unanswered goals after that third Penn (5-6, 1-5) score, a run that spanned more than 40 minutes. The Quakers finally broke through again with 4:13 to go in the game, but the Tigers would add two more, bringing the final score of the romp to 19-4.

The Tigers arrived at Princeton stadium with an undefeated Ivy League record and No. 2 national ranking in tow. Penn is in the same league as Princeton, but with a 1-4 Ivy record, the Tigers are a small spot on the horizon.

Although Princeton head coach Chris Sailer called Penn "much improved over last year," the two teams played as though they were well aware of their roles. The ball was passed about, shots were fired, and players ranged the field as if the game's outcome were in question, but most present realized that a Princeton victory was almost assured.

The Tigers were motivated to avoid a lapse in intensity, however, by their desire to avoid a repeat performance of recent games when they have fallen behind early. "Our theme for this game was to come out really hard," senior goalie Laura Field said.

With the game's first three goals, Princeton kept itself out of the hole just as it had planned. A crisp pass play gave Penn its first goal with 19:04 to play in the first half, but Princeton quickly made up for the mistake.

Physical

Senior midfielder Hillary Maddox started a four-goal Tiger run 18 seconds later with her first goal of the game. Pump-faking once, Maddox drew her defender off balance before cutting hard toward the goal, where she beat a helpless netminder for the score.

Maddox's score was indicative of the manner in which Princeton tallied most of its goals. The Penn defense interfered with a number of Tiger passes, but Princeton countered with swift individual efforts.

Maddox was one of three Tigers to score three times on the game, joined by sophomore attack Charlotte Kenworthy and junior midfielder Julie Shaner. Rounding out a balanced Tiger onslaught were four players with two goals apiece — sophomore attack Kim Smith, freshmen attack Whitney Miller and Liza Hillenbrand and sophomore midfielder Mimi Hammerberg.

Field made certain Penn could not counter with sure play in net for Princeton, gathering any shots that made their way through the Tigers' tough defense. She notched eight saves on the day and was particularly effective during Princeton's 10-goal string.

"This was one of those days when I really concentrated on seeing the ball, and the defense helped me with that," Field said.

With the win, the Tigers set up a showdown with Dartmouth Saturday, in which both teams will sport perfect league records. The winner is assured the title, as no other Ivy team has less than two losses.