Overtime win keeps w. lacrosse unbeaten

Thirty seconds remaining in overtime. Game tied at seven. No worries for Princeton — Theresa Sherry was on the prowl.

Circling around the goal, the senior attack drew a double team and found an open Tara Hardiman in front of the Maryland crease. With 20 seconds left on the clock, Hardiman turned and fired at close range. She found the net beyond Terrapin goalie Kirah Miles' shoulder to bury the Terrapins' hopes for what would have been this year's biggest upset in college lacrosse.

"[Hardiman] has such good timing," head coach Chris Sailer said. "She's money in front of the cage."

It was an epic battle on a memorable Senior Night. The well-balanced offense and stalwart defense of Princeton (15-0 overall, 6-0 Ivy League) — not to mention its perfect season — was nearly thwarted by a one-woman show in an overtime 8-7 win over No. 4 Maryland (12-3).

Up until last week, Princeton and Maryland were Nos. 1 and 2 in the nation, respectively, according to Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association polls.

Though the Terrapins dropped two spots to No. 4 after a 9-7 loss to Virginia on Friday, the two teams played a game worthy of a No. 1-versus-No. 2 contest.

The Tigers looked to be in trouble in the first few minutes as Maryland came out with an intensity matching its fire-engine red shirts. The Terrapins controlled the pace of the game early, and they were first on the board off a goal from sophomore attack Delia Cox nearly four minutes into the first half.

For just under 10 minutes, Princeton found itself in an unfamiliar position — trailing an opponent. The score held firm at 1-0 until Tiger junior midfielder Ingrid Goldberg hurled a long shot into the left corner of the Maryland net, tying the game at one with 16 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the first half.

That first goal turned the momentum around for the rest of the half, as Princeton found the net twice more in the next three and a half minutes. When Cox brought the Terrapins within a goal late in the first stanza, Sherry answered her effort exactly 30 seconds later to reclaim the two-goal lead that the Tigers took into halftime — 4-2.

In the second half, Princeton built up a three-goal lead at two different points, but a pesky Cox did not stop finding the net. She steadily chipped away at the Tigers' 7-4 lead.

Cox, Maryland's star attack, scored the Terrapins' first six goals of the night, bringing the game to a 7-6 score. It was freshman attack Brooke Richards, however, who scored Maryland's seventh and most crucial goal with six minutes and 12 seconds left in the game to send it into overtime.

The game was marked by quick-fire offenses from both teams, but each goalie stepped up to the challenge. It became clear that whichever defense could contain the opposition would be the deciding factor. Ultimately, with the Tiger offense not showing its strongest performance, the Princeton defense joined Hardiman as the team's heroes.

Season finale

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Should Princeton tame Brown (6-6, 2-4) this Saturday in Providence, the win against the Bears on Saturday would mark the perfect end to a perfect regular season.

The Bears are coming off two league losses to Yale and Penn. Sophomore attack Kate Staley heads up the Brown offense as the team's leading scorer with 27 goals on the season. She and the rest should be hard-pressed to slip anything past the Tigers' netminder, junior Sarah Kolodner, who posted 10 saves in last night's game. Kolodner is coming off a performance in which she allowed only seven goals to a team averaging 14 goals on the season.