Under lights and rain, w. lax destroys Lions

Women's lacrosse both continued a streak and began a streak last night in its 15-2 victory over Columbia in Class of 1952 Stadium, its first Ivy League contest of the season.

First, the Tigers (2-3 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) added one more game to its winning streak against Ivy opponents, bringing the count to 11 straight contests.

Second, after setting a school record with 19 straight wins last season, the Tigers set in motion their first winning streak of the 2003 season.

Last night's game put to rest for the moment any fears that might have accumulated earlier this season when the supposedly unstoppable Tigers lost three games in a row to Loyola, Virginia and Duke.

Granted, the team it played, Columbia, has finished in the Ivy League basement in each of the relatively young program's five seasons. Against the Tigers, the Lions have lost by an average margin of 16 goals, including last season's 17-1 wipeout.

But the Tigers, rather than playing down to the level of their historically weaker opponent, used the game as an opportunity to rediscover what domination feels like.

Junior midfielder Theresa Sherry and sophomore attack Lindsey Biles led the offense with five and four goals, respectively. Sherry's five goals bring her season total to a team-high of 15.

Senior attack Whitney Miller found the back of the net two times in just over a minute in the middle of the first period, and assisted two in a row in under a minute toward the beginning of the second.

Sophomore attack Leigh Slonaker contributed one off a spin-around shot at pointblank range, and freshmen attacks Olachi Opara and Jamie Sundheim came off the bench in the second period to make a pair of beautiful goals — Opara's was a backwards flip past the goalie and Sundheim's was a missile into the top of the net.

Junior attack Tara Hardiman scored number 15 for Princeton off another high shot into the left corner.

The Tiger offense kept the Columbia goalie — and the fans — on their toes, scoring off of everything from direct shots to spin-around bullets to backwards scoops.

On the defensive end, the Tigers — notably seniors Rachael Becker and Alex Fiore and sophomore Elizabeth Pillion — made the Lions look like novices, forcing multiple turnovers off of basics such as catching and shooting.