W. lax prepares for last regular season matchup against Brown

With only one game left in the regular season, women's lacrosse has checked off almost everything that would appear on any team's to-do list. The Tigers are 14-1 (6-0 Ivy League). Not only do they lead the Ivies, but they are also ranked No. 1 in the country. And, on Wednesday, the Tigers came back from behind to beat the defending national champions, No. 8 Maryland, 13-9.

Princeton does have one last regular-season errand to run: a little meeting with Brown tomorrow afternoon that should not pose much of a problem. And if they do beat the Bears, the Tigers will clinch the outright Ivy title and get a whole new to-do list – to win the national tournament.

In the Ivy League standings, Brown (5-7, 1-4 Ivy) is currently tied with Harvard in sixth place. The Bears have had a rough time lately – their 9-7 win over Boston University on Wednesday was their first win in four games. Brown headed to Boston having recently suffered two league losses the week before, first to No. 9 Yale and then to Penn.

Brown's only Ivy win this season was a 15-4 rout of hapless Columbia on April 6. Other than that, the Bears have defeated four non-league teams: Colgate, Stanford, Northwestern, and BU.

Brown did put up a good fight against No. 12 Vanderbilt, only losing 13-12 in Nashville earlier this season. But in their only other game against a nationally-ranked, non-Ivy opponent – a March match-up against Maryland – the Bears were no contest for the competition as the Terrapins more than doubled up Brown, 19-8.

The Tigers have dominated almost all of their competitors this year. With the exception of a narrow loss at the hands of Georgetown in the first game of the season, Princeton has been on fire all spring. The Tigers have outscored their opponents, 217-107 (87-32 against Ivy foes).

As for specific key players, Princeton has its fair share of ammo. Senior attack Lauren Simone leads the team with 39 goals and 13 assists, while on defense, junior Rachael Becker has caused 37 turnovers. Freshman goalie Sarah Kolodner leads the Ivy League in goalkeeping with 81 saves and a .583 goals against average.

But individual performances aside, the team's amazing depth is one of its greatest strengths. 18 of 24 players (excluding goalies) have netted at least one goal, and every player on the roster has played at least half a game.

In contrast, the Bears have also outscored their opponents, but only 90-70. Princeton has five players with over 20 goals on the season; Brown's leading scorer, sophomore Christine Anneberg, has only 19.

So, if everything runs smoothly, the Tigers should finish their game against the Bears with their win streak intact, the Ivy title in possession, and the regular season more than successfully completed.

Not bad for a Saturday errand.