Quick scoring carries women's lacrosse in 17-6 defeat of Delaware

Five minutes into yesterday's women's lacrosse game, University of Delaware head coach Denise Wescott called a timeout.

Her team was already losing 4-0.

Two minutes later, her team was losing 5-0.

In fact, for the first seven minutes of the game, Princeton averaged about a goal a minute. With 22 minutes, 27 seconds left to play, the Tigers led the Blue Hens 7-0.

Naturally Princeton didn't maintain this scoring pace for the rest of the game, but did continue to dominate Delaware both offensively and defensively. At the final buzzer, the Tigers had come out on top, 17-6.

Throughout the first half, Princeton's offense was just too much for Delaware to handle. Easily passing around the Blue Hens, the Tigers were able to take advantage of a number of shot opportunities.

Senior attack Lauren Simone set the tone for the evening at the very start of the game. She netted the first goal of the match at 27:28, assisted by senior attack Charlotte Kenworthy. Then, less than thirty seconds later, she came right back to the goal for another successful shot.

Sophomore midfielder Theresa Sherry stepped up two minutes later with a goal at 25:34, assisted by senior attack Kim Smith.

So it was clear from the very beginning that the Tigers would dominate the game.

"Our attack really came out firing," head coach Chris Sailer said.

After starting out strong, Princeton did not let up, continuing to pass around the Delaware defense and take a number of shots.

In the final Princeton goal of the first half, senior attack Nina Carbone caught a pass from junior attack Sarah Small, right in front of the goal, and slammed the ball into the net with just over three minutes left in the half.

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Princeton's first-half defense was equally strong, although it did allow a Delaware goal with 26.5 seconds in the half. Generally, on the few occasions when the Blue Hens managed to get possession, they had a hard time bringing the ball past the midfield.

"I think we played good defense all over the field," Sailer said. "[Delaware] had a hard time getting any flow."

At the end of the first half, Princeton led 10-2. The Tigers had taken 20 shots — four times as many as the Blue Hens, who had only managed to get in five before the halftime buzzer.

The second half started out much the same way as the first. Princeton took possession and immediately ran the ball to the net, where Kenworthy scored at 29:35.

However, Delaware did step up their play a little in the second half, managing to narrow the shooting gap. The Tigers made seven of 13 shots in the second half, while the Blue Hens made four of ten.

Although Delaware was still clearly no match for Princeton, they were able to gain a little leverage as the Tigers rotated in a number of players from the bench.

"We got a lot of kids in the second half, and Delaware was able to get a couple goals," Sailer said.

"But it was great, some of the younger kids had nice games. [Sophomore attack] Tara Hardiman had two goals and an assist. It was a really good effort."

The final minute of the game was representative of the way things had gone for most of the night. Sophomore midfielder Katie Coyne scored off an assist from Hardiman with 51 seconds left to play. Although Delaware tried to take the ball to the goal, Princeton snatched it away before they could score. In just the way things had gone the whole game, the Tigers were dominant on offense and pesky on defense, leaving the hapless Blue Hens unable to catch up.

Princeton was led in scoring by Simone and Kenworthy, with four goals each; Simone and Kenworthy also had one assist each. Senior attack Kim Smith had three goals and one assist. All in all, though, the scoring was spread out, with eight different players netting at least one goal.

Despite their team's loss, Delaware's goalkeepers, freshman Lauren Burtch and senior Laurie Tortorelli, did have a somewhat strong showing, combining for ten saves.

Princeton's goalies, freshman Sarah Kolodner and sophomore Meghan McInnes, had a combined three saves (one for Kolodner and two for McInnes), but of course, Delaware didn't take very many shots.

Yesterday's win puts the Tigers at 8-1 on the season. The team's only loss came to Georgetown in the season's opening game. The team returns to Ivy play this Saturday when they host Yale. The Elis were 6-1 on the season as of April 2.

"That's a big game," Sailer said. "[Yale]'s been playing very well."