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No. 1 w. lax travels to Boston to challenge Crimson

The Princeton women's lacrosse team is currently No. 1 in the nation. However, in the words of senior attack Mimi Hammerberg, "ranking doesn't mean jack squat if you don't play your best every game."

With this in mind, the Tigers (9-1 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) head to Cambridge tomorrow for a game against unranked Harvard. The matchup starts an important stretch of three Ivy League games within a week for Princeton.

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Having already taken down No. 5 Cornell, 16-12, and No. 12 Yale by a convincing margin of 11-5, the Tigers have placed themselves in a good position to capture their first outright Ivy title since 1996. Since then, Princeton has shared the title with Dartmouth twice, and the Big Green have held it alone three times. If the Tigers want to assure themselves of the championship, they need to win all of their remaining Ivy games, starting with Harvard.

On the surface, the Crimson (4-4, 0-2) do not seem to present the Tigers much of a challenge. Harvard has not yet beaten any ranked opponents this year and, along with perennial cellar-dweller Columbia, is one of only two teams in the Ancient Eight that is still winless in league competition.

Underneath the statistics, however, the story is not so simple. On Mar. 30, the Crimson narrowly lost to Yale (7-2, 3-1), 9-8, in a back-and-forth game that could have gone either way.

Last Sunday, Harvard traveled to Penn to take on the Quakers and fell by a similarly slim margin.

Entering the second half tied, Penn scored twice in the first three minutes of the half to open up a two-goal lead that it would not give up. The Crimson pulled to within one several times, but Crissy Book's third goal of the game with two minutes, 17 seconds remaining in regulation sealed the victory for the Quakers, 8-6.

Although they may not be near the top of the standings, the Crimson have shown that they can play with the better teams in the Ivy League. Princeton knows their level of playing and is fully aware of the implications of Saturday's game.

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"The game this weekend is really important for the Ivy title and for our season overall," junior defender Rachael Becker said. "The Ivy League is really competitive this year and we cannot let down. Every Ivy game is a challenge and Harvard is always tough."

Since there is no playoff at the end of the season to crown the Ivy champion, every game counts. A team does not receive any more points for beating a top-ranked opponent than for defeating a lower one, and total number of victories is all that matters in the race for the Ivy title.

Sophomore midfielder Theresa Sherry agreed with Becker on the importance of the contest.

"We approach [any Ivy game] as a championship game, which it is," Sherry said. "Each Ivy game is the Ivy League championship game."

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The Tigers almost unanimously cite consistent effort and improvement from game to game as two things that they are focusing on in their upcoming matchups.

Two of the most consistent Tigers of late have been Sherry and Becker.

Sherry was named Ivy League offensive player of the week on Apr. 8 for the second consecutive week. She leads the team in both goals and total points, with 25 and 33 respectively, and sits atop the Ivy League in total points. Last week, Sherry scored four goals and added one assist in a Tiger victory over Yale.

While Sherry ruled the offensive end of the field, Becker was equally dominant in Princeton's end and was named defensive player of the week. In the Tigers' past two games against Delaware and Yale, Becker caused 10 turnovers and scooped up six ground balls while simultaneously shutting down each team's top scorer.

Princeton will look to continue its excellent play, both as individuals and as a team, when it takes on the Crimson. And if this is not enough motivation for the Tigers, there is always pride to drive them.

"These games are usually very competitive," Hammerberg said. "No one likes to lose to a fellow Ivy."