At halfway mark, women's lax drives for national preeminence

In case anyone has not heard already, the women's lacrosse team has been destroying most of their competition this year. Now midway through their season, the Tigers are 9-1, with their only loss coming to Loyola, which sits one spot higher than Princeton the polls. The Tigers are currently ranked third in the nation, with Maryland, which is once again running through teams this year, at No.1.

In the Ivy League, however, Princeton sits at No. 1 with a record of 3-0, having routed all competition. The last four of their Ivy matchups are coming up in the next two weeks. On the entire season, the Tigers have six games left before the NCAA tournament begins in early May, so a victory in each game will be crucial so that they will be seeded higher for the tournament.

The team's stats speak to its successes. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 118-67, averaging 11.8 goals per game to their opponents' 6.7. While Princeton scores more in the first half because head coach Chris Sailer holds back the offense in the later stages of big wins, the defense has been consistent, holding teams to 33 goals in the first half and 34 in the second.

The defense has been the constant force in each of the team's wins — with the exception of their one loss, the defense has not let a team score more than nine goals. As of their game against Yale, the Tigers had recovered 190 ground balls to their opponents' 147. They had also caused 93 turnovers, while their opponents have only caused 52. The leader of this defense has been senior captain Dayna Federici, whose experience has helped shape the defense and defined what it takes to win a game.

Federici explained one of Princeton's wins as "a team effort all around, from big saves by [freshman goalie] Meghan [McInnes], to good one-on-one and team defense, causing transition turnovers, and ultimately turning them into points on the scoreboard" — a description that could be applied to any one of the Tigers' victories thus far.

McInnes has filled the shoes left behind by last year's goalie, Laura Field '00, completing the the puzzle for the defense. She was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after her performance against Cornell on March 31, in which she had 11 of her 52 career saves. She then repeated that performance against Yale, helping to bring down the Elis and seating Princeton at the top of the Ivy League. Her save percentage of .473 is stellar when compared to her opponents combined percentage of .304.

On the other end of the field, the Tigers have developed a high-powered offense that has allowed them to score nine or more goals in every one of their games. Princeton boasts six players who have scored over ten goals this season, led by junior attack Kim Smith, who caged her 100th career goal (23rd for the season) Wednesday. She is not the only Tiger who has scored over 100 goals. Senior midfielder Julie Shaner has 15 markers on the season and 104 on her career. The third member of the offensive pantheon is junior attack Lauren Simone, scoring 21 goals on the season and leading the team in assists with 14.

While the team's offensive and defensive prowess are obvious in each game, the statistic that demonstrates Princeton's dominion on the field is draw controls. As of the game against Yale, the Tigers had won 94 draws, while opponents only took possession of 67. Partially responsible for the team's strength in this area are sophomore midfielder Whitney Miller and junior midfielder Brooke Owens, who each have contributed 11 draw controls this season.

These stats prove that Princeton is a good team, but if the Tigers want to compete with the indomitable Maryland later this month and Loyola in the tournament, they are going to have to refine their skills.

"We try to continually prove to ourselves that we are one of the best lacrosse teams in the country," Simone said. "We develop more as a team each day."