Two-sport star Pillion excels in soccer, lacrosse

What's the only thing harder than being a starter for a top-10 ranked team in NCAA Division I sports while maintaining academics at the most competitive school in the country? Multiplying that feat by two.

That's exactly what senior Elizabeth "Pills" Pillion has managed to do for the past three years, as a defender for women's soccer and a midfielder for women's lacrosse.

Women's soccer, currently in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament, is having possibly the best year the program has ever seen. Princeton (17-2) received the No. 7 overall seed and will host Boston College on Saturday with a chance to reach the Elite Eight.

Pillion's performance on the team this year has been especially impressive given that she only started playing for the Tigers midway through her sophomore year. Last year, as a junior, she started seven games, but she played in every game and began making valuable contributions to the team.

This season, Pillion has started all 19 games and, despite being part of the Tigers' dominating defensive unit, has still managed to score a pair of goals, both of them game-winners.

With Pillion at its heart, Princeton's defense this year has been among the best in the nation allowing only eight goals in 19 games.

As stellar as the soccer team has been this year, lacrosse is where Pillion started her Princeton athletic career. It is in this sport that she has seen the most success so far as a dominant player, an All-American and captain of the team.

Since cracking the starting lineup midway through her freshman year, Pillion has emerged as a team leader. She was already second on the team in goals and third in points as a sophomore, a year in which she was also honored as a second team All-American. In both her freshman and sophomore years, the Tigers won the NCAA national championship with help from strong performances by Pillion who scored twice in each of those championship games.

Last year, Pillion was one of four Tigers named a first-team All-American and led Princeton to another national championship game, even though this one ended in a 10-4 loss to Virginia. She was a controlling force on the field all year for the Orange and Black, leading the team in both ground balls and draw controls.

"She's stood out on and off the field for the last three years," sophomore midfielder Alex Gangler said. "She's probably the best person on the [lacrosse] team, and for her to make it work for both seasons, I just have no idea how she does it."

Pillion has been forced to make sacrifices for both sports because of her busy schedule. She has been unable to join her lacrosse teammates as they participate in fall conditioning and practices.

"When we're running, [Pillion] will stop by on her way back from soccer practice and cheer us on," Gangler said.

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Though her success at Princeton may boggle the minds of couch potatoes across campus, it's no change from the course she set back in high school. At Episcopal Academy outside of Philadelphia, Pillion was both captain of her soccer team and an All-American lacrosse player when she decided to come to Princeton.

Pillion is one of a small number of Princeton athletes who are talented, organized and dedicated enough to play two sports at Old Nassau. Others in recent years who have been crucial members of two teams include, Theresa Sherry '04 (lacrosse and soccer) and Rachael Becker '03 (lacrosse and field hockey) and senior B.J. Szymanski (football and baseball), who was recently drafted by the Cincinatti Reds.