Women's lax ekes out win over Brown

Coming off back-to-back losses against No. 2 Dartmouth and No. 1 Maryland, the women's lacrosse team needed a convincing win heading into the NCAA tournament.

Saturday, against a mediocre Brown team, the No. 3 Tigers (13-3 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) got a win on the scoreboard, but did not pick up much momentum going into the tourney.

Led by a tough second half defense spearheaded by senior goalie Laura Field, Princeton was able to hold the Bears (6-8, 2-5) scoreless for the last 17 minutes of the game and come from behind for a 10-9 victory to close out the regular season.

Brown started the game fast, jumping on junior goalie Jennie Platt for four goals in the early part of the game as the Bears cruised out to a 4-1 lead. The Tigers did not fold after the poor start, however, and chipped away at the Brown lead as sophomore attack Lauren Simone scored two of her four goals on the day in a one-minute span to get Princeton back within sight of its opponent.

After Simone scored her two first-half goals, the Tigers' offense kicked into gear. Sophomore attack Kim Smith first netted a goal and then made a nice pass to fellow sophomore attack Nina Carbone, who scored to tie the game, 5-5, with five minutes left in the first half.

Turning point

And then with time running down in the half, junior midfielder Julie Shaner showed off why she has been Princeton's sparkplug and most exciting player this season. The junior scored an unassisted goal with only 38 seconds left to give the Tigers their first lead of the game.

Field would come in to start the second half — and Princeton would never trail again. The two teams traded goals for the first 15 minutes of the second half until Brown's Cristi Gigon scored on a free position opportunity with 17:04 remaining on the clock to tie the score at 9-9. Smith would tally her third of the day at the 14:07 mark to put the Tigers ahead, 10-9.

At this point, both teams' defenses kicked into gear and stifled the opposition's offense. Neither team would score another goal in the final 15 minutes of the game as Field made a number of her nine saves to help the Tigers cling to their lead.

Field and Platt combined to make 16 saves while Brown netminder Niki Caggiano had 18 saves to keep the Bears close.

Simone led Princeton with four goals on the day, while Smith tallied three. Carbone, Shaner and freshman attack Whitney Miller each scored.

The Tigers notched assists on five of the 10 goals they scored — showing the strong ball movement that was the hallmark of the team early in the season. Carbone, Miller, Shaner, Smith and sophomore attack Charlotte Kenworthy each had an assist on the day.

While Princeton will now go into the tournament having broken its two-game losing streak, a close win against a lower-caliber opponent does not instill the kind of confidence that the Tigers were looking for as the postseason approaches.