On Sunday, the woman's lacrosse team, ranked No. 3 in Lacrosse Magazine's preseason poll, suffered a two-point loss to No. 4 Georgetown.
Although the game was a close one that ended in double overtime, the 15-13 loss was a disappointing way to begin the season, especially because it was so close and at home at 1952 Stadium.
After Sunday's game, then, the Tigers were down. But they weren't out.
In their second game of the season on Wednesday night against Lafayette, the Tigers showed that, if anything, they were hungrier than ever for victory. They devoured the Leopards in a resounding 18-7 win.
Three minutes, 29 seconds into contest, Princeton senior attack Kim Smith, unassisted, set the stage for Tiger domination with the first goal of the match.
Just fourteen seconds later, senior attack Lauren Simone put in the second.
Freshman Lindsey Biles led the Tigers in goals with four. Sophomore Theresa Sherry, freshman Leigh Slonaker and Simone each finished with two.
Six different Tigers got one ball past the gates, including Smith, junior Sarah Small, senior Mimi Hammerberg, junior Whitney Miller, sophomore Katie Yakulis and sophomore Tara Hardiman.
Assists were similarly spread about among the Tigers. Sherry, Slonaker, Simone, Hammerberg and Small each contributed one.
On the Leopards' end, scoring was much more concentrated. Heather McClelland made over half of Lafayette's goals, finishing with four. The other three were scored by Erin Gallagher. Jennifer Stone registered all three assists.
Sophomore Meghan McInnis started in the goal for Princeton, and played the first 16 minutes, 14 seconds in net for the Tigers.
Freshman Sarah Kolodner stepped into net to close out the game. They combined for a total of five saves.
Lafayette goalie Leela Strong had an impressive game, finishing the night with 16 saves.
In the first five minutes of the game, Princeton snatched a 4-0 lead. The Leopards managed to squeak in a goal of their own, but Princeton pounced again on three more.
The momentum of the game switched suddenly into the Leopards' paws as they put in three straight goals in about six minutes to close the gap to 7-4.
But that was as close as Lafayette would get.
The Tigers were ahead 9-4 at the intermission, and outscored the Leopards 9-3 in the second half on their way to their 18-7 victory.
Princeton women's lacrosse action continues on Sunday, March 10 when the team travels to Loyola. Loyola was ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll.
The Tigers will then return for two home games in a row: they host Virginia on Sunday, March 17, and No. 2 Duke on Wednesday, March 20.
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