The women's lacrosse team's hammer was withdrawn when it lost to Yale, 7-6, a week ago. But on Saturday the Tigers (8-4 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) brought it crashing down on Harvard to give the Crimson (2-9 overall, 0-4 Ivy League) a 12-2 pounding.
It was more than clear on Saturday that the Tigers were not about to be the first Princeton team since the 1988 season to lose two Ivy contests in a row.
Most striking about the pounding was that the Tigers did it without the full help of their two top scorers — junior attack Theresa Sherry and senior attack Whitney Miller — who played limited minutes due to ankle injuries. The team was forced to look elsewhere for scorers — and it found seven of them.
"With some key scorers out of the lineup today, we really needed people to step up," head coach Chris Sailer said. "I am very happy with the way we came out and scored in the first half."
The onslaught began just 48 seconds into the game, when junior midfielder Katie Coyne put in the first goal for the Tigers, her second of the season.
With the floodgates open, the Tigers took off.
Sophomore attack Leigh Slonaker added the second goal at 3:03 into the first period.
Next, Sherry — one of the two top scorers with an ailing ankle — added the third in limited playing time. Sherry's goal was her 30th of the season.
The score reached 4-0 when Slonaker whipped in her second of the game. A third goal by Slonaker, two by sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Pillion, and one apiece for junior attack Liza Hillenbrand and senior midfielder Alex Fiore resulted in a 9-1 Princeton lead at the halfway mark.
In the opening minutes of the second period, Fiore scored her 15th goal of the year — matching her career total entering this season — to give the Tigers a 10-1 advantage.
"We played a lot of minutes without some of our leaders on the field today," Pillion said. "It forced others into that leadership role and I think that will only help us down the road."
Princeton dominated Harvard on both sides of the field. In addition to its final 10-goal advantage, the team picked up 33 ground balls and collected 11 of 16 draw controls. Finally, in the caused turnover category, senior defender Rachael Becker's five matched Harvard's total, while the Tigers together caused 12.
Becker also finished the game with three ground balls and had no turnovers.
In goal, sophomore Sarah Kolodner registered six saves in 53:46. At that point, senior Kelly Sosa stepped in to finish out the game.
Pillion, who walked off the field with two goals and one assist, picked up a team-high six ground balls and three draw controls.
Slonaker and Coyne each finished with four points on the day — Slonaker with a team-high three goals and one assist and Coyne with two goals and two assists.
Fiore recorded two goals and four ground balls on the game, while Hillenbrand, Sherry, and senior attack Sarah Small contributed one goal apiece.
Ivy League action continues for Princeton, ranked No. 6 in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll, when the Tigers face unranked Penn (6-8 overall, 2-3 Ivy League) on Wednesday at Villanova at 4:30.
The Ivy race heated up for the Tigers the moment Yale's Amanda Laws and the Elis knocked down Princeton for the first time in 11 years on April 12.
Because of the loss to Yale, every game is a playoff game for the Tigers in the sense that they must win the remainder of their conference contests in order to clinch the Ivy League title. If the Tigers do win out, they would share the title with Dartmouth (8-2, 5-0), but only if the Big Green manages to remain undefeated against its other Ivy opponents.
To add to the pressure, Princeton's bid into the national tournament rest on that title and the automatic berth that accompanies it.
As the Big Green's undefeated Ivy League record suggests, Dartmouth is in sole possession of first place in the league — and it is on the top of Princeton's list of teams to beat. The teams face each other on Saturday at Class of 1952 Stadium.
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