Women's lacrosse skewers Scarlet Knights in season opener

Looking at the scoreboard after the first half yesterday, Princeton fans might have been inclined to think that they were watching a football game. But they were not in Princeton Stadium, and when they looked out on the turf field of 1952 Stadium, they would not have seen the football team, but rather the women's lacrosse team warming up to put another half's beating on Rutgers.

Domination. It is the only word that can describe the women's lacrosse team's performance against the Rutgers yesterday. Princeton defeated the Scarlet Knights, 16-3.

The first half belonged entirely to the Tigers. The offense scored 12 times in the first 30 minutes of the game, while the defense stifled the Rutgers attack, shutting the visitors out. Then, early in the second half, less than two minutes after the Scarlet Knights' first goal, junior defender Jess Nelson scored her first collegiate goal on a well-executed move from the top of the arc off a pass from freshman midfielder Theresa Sherry.

"I was really excited," Nelson said. "I wasn't sure if it was going in, but it did."

After another goal by junior attack Charlotte Kenworthy, the Scarlet Knights answered with two consecutive goals within five minutes of each other. Rutgers looked like it might try to make the game close with a comeback, but the Scarlet Knights could not contain junior midfielder Brooke Owens, as she took the ball out of the defensive end, went the length of the field and scored.

To finish off Princeton's offensive onslaught, Kenworthy took a pass from junior attack Lauren Simone and put it in the top shelf of the Rutgers goal. The destruction was complete, and the Scarlet Knights left 1952 Stadium decisively defeated.

"We wanted to have a good opening game," coach Chris Sailer said. "We came out and played really strong in the first half, we were real happy with that performance. There was a little bit of a letdown in the second half, so we know we need to maintain that same intensity for 60 minutes."

Leading Princeton's offense were Kenworthy with four goals and Simone with three. In her first game as the Tiger goalkeeper, freshman Meghan McInnes made six saves and only gave up three goals. The Princeton defense allowed only 14 shots and caused 12 turnovers. Conversely, the offense took 25 shots and only turned the ball over nine times.

In the team's season-opening win, the Tigers showcased the strength of the new freshmen recruits, as well as the results from the team's intense preseason training.

"I think we have a lot of weapons on the attack," coach Sailer said. "We have a lot of good shooters, a lot of kids who can put the ball in the cage, we have an experienced defense, we have a lot of team speed, and we have some good depth."

One thing that was apparent on the field was Princeton's team chemistry. Picker No. 2 by "Sports Illustrated for Women," this team faces a lot of pressure.

"We've always had amazing chemistry on every team," team captain Simone said. "That's part of the reason for all our success, we really bond together on the field, off the field."