President Bush has two college-aged daughters, one of whom attends school in New Haven, Conn. But with the amount of time that the women's lacrosse team has been spending at the White House lately, the majority of the Ivy Leaguers that the president has seen have been swathed in orange.
The Tigers (16-4) overcame some early-season adversity to capture their second-straight national championship and to ensure the trip to the White House that goes with it with an 8-7 overtime victory over Virginia. The win was especially sweet for Princeton because the Cavaliers were part of the three-game losing streak back in March that caused some to count the defending champions out.
Princeton made it two in a row thanks to junior midfielder Theresa Sherry's team-leading 46th goal at one minute, 29 seconds of the extra period. After the Tigers won the draw in the second half of overtime, the ball was worked down the field until Sherry eventually gained control on the side of the net. Eluding her defender, Sherry banged home the goal for Princeton's first lead of the day. But it was the only one that mattered.
"I saw an opening on the left side of the field and decided to take it," Sherry said. "I had been pulling back earlier in the game, but now it was time to go for it."
The game was an uphill battle from the start. After Virginia jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, Sherry netted two goals in two minutes to bring the Tigers within one. After another Cavalier goal, sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Pillion scored to keep it close, 4-3, at halftime.
The Tigers again found themselves down by one, 7-6, with less than two minutes to go in regulation. They refused to end their championship run with a loss, however, and the attack took over. Senior Alex Fiore got the ball to sophomore Lindsey Biles, who found senior Whitney Miller in front of the goal. Miller charged to the open left side, ripping a shot off with her dominant left hand and securing Princeton a chance to win it all again in overtime.
Much like the title game, the Tigers' season was an uphill battle almost from the beginning. Princeton lost seven seniors — including NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player Lauren Simone '02 — from its amazing 19-1 championship team of a year before.
Start of a championship
After pounding Lafayette, 15-6, to open the season and earn head coach Chris Sailer her 200th career win, the Tigers went on a three-game losing skid. Princeton dropped a double-overtime heartbreaker to Loyola, 9-8, before turning in a lackluster effort in a 13-8 loss at Virginia and then winning every stat but the score against Duke.
A 15-7 win over a strong Penn State team got Princeton back on track, and the squad never looked back, collecting 13 more victories en route to the third championship in school history.
The Tigers especially seemed to gain momentum when it counted. As tournament time drew near, Princeton notched huge victories over rivals Dartmouth and Maryland. The win over the Big Green, courtesy of sophomore attack Leigh Slonaker's goal with 36 seconds to go in the game, for all intents and purposes earned Princeton a share of its third-straight Ivy crown.
The Tigers entered the tournament ranked No. 5 and promptly destroyed first-round opponent, Le Moyne.
Throughout the easy victory, the thoughts of many in Class of 1952 Stadium were miles away in Durham, N.C., where Duke was hosting Ohio State. A Blue Devil win would mean that the Tigers had to travel south for their quarterfinal match-up, while an Ohio State victory would send the Buckeyes to New Jersey. When the Buckeyes' 10-7 win was announced over the public address system, the crowd put up the biggest cheer it had produced day.
Though Princeton did not get to exact revenge against Duke, it was able to easily defeat Ohio St., 17-8, and then found itself facing the team that had started the losing streak to begin with, No. 1 Loyola. In a low-scoring game, Princeton downed the Greyhounds, 5-3, to move onto the final and eventually the championship.
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