Tigers host No. 8 Hoyas under lights

The women's lacrosse team's version of March Madness concludes tonight as the No. 4 Tigers host No. 8 Georgetown at Class of 1952 Stadium. Princeton (4-2 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) has beaten Georgetown (5-1, 2-0 Big East) in the teams' last three meetings, with the first in that stretch coming in the 2002 national championship game. Princeton, coming off a loss to Virginia, has not lost two consecutive games since losing three straight to Loyola, Virginia and Duke at the beginning of their 2003 campaign.

The Tigers will try to regroup after their 8-4 loss to the Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon, but it will face its sixth top-11 team (according to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association standings) in what will be its seventh game. Georgetown even received one first-place vote this week. Columbia has been Princeton's only unranked opponent.

Senior leaders

Senior attack Lindsey Biles and senior midfielder Elizabeth Pillion will look to continue their offensive leadership tonight. This pair has combined for 33 goals and 74 shots this season. To put this in perspective, the rest of the team has combined for 28 goals and 75 shots. The Tiger offense has clicked at home, averaging 12.5 goals per game this season. On the road, however, the team has just managed 5.5 goals per game in two games.

Biles is now in sixth place on Princeton's all-time scoring list with 139 goals, four goals behind fifth place. She also stands atop the Ivy League in scoring with 19 goals, is second in the Ivy League in total points with 23 and leads Princeton with 16 ground balls. Pillion leads the team in draw controls with 14 and is second on the team in ground balls with 15. She is one of the team's most efficient shooters as well, scoring on 48 percent of her shots.

Sophomore midfielder Kathleen Miller, third on the team in points with 10, has scored six goals and tallied four assists this season. She had a hat trick earlier this season in her team's win against Columbia.

Despite all of this scoring, it will be crucial for Princeton to get off to a good start in the first half and not have to rely on yet another great second-half performance. The Tigers have outscored their opponents 32-17 in the second half of games and 25-10 in games played at home.

Head coach Chris Sailer will rely not only on her seniors but also on some of her freshmen. Midfielder Katie Lewis-Lemonica, who has started all seven games and scored five goals on just 10 shots and tallied one assist, midfielder Courtney Bird and defender Norris Novak all started on Saturday in Virginia. Bird has scored four goals on seven shots in six games, and Novak has picked up three ground balls in the three games she has played in. Freshman attack Ashley Amo came off the bench to score one of Princeton's four goals in the loss to the Cavaliers. She has scored two goals on the season but has created many more scoring chances in front of the net.

Standing tall in goal

The saving grace on the Tigers' half of the field is senior goaltender Sarah Kolodner who has made 43 saves on 87 shots on goal this season. This amounts to a .494 save percentage and a 7.93 goals-against average. Kolodner is Princeton's all-time goals-against leader with a 6.15 GAA.

Kolodner will be facing a tough Georgetown team coached by Ricky Fried, who served as the Hoyas assistant head coach for two years prior to this season. In his first year as head coach, Fried has gotten off to a solid start on the Hilltop, but he has big shoes to fill. Kim Simons, who resigned after the 2004 season, took Georgetown to seven consecutive NCAA tournaments, three Final Fours in five years and four straight Big East Championship titles.

Fried has a talented group to work with, a group that includes Big East Offensive Player of the Week sophomore Coco Stanwick. It was the third time this season that Stanwick earned this honor. She scored four goals in the Hoyas' 15-10 win against Rutgers last Saturday and leads the team with 31 points on 22 goals and nine assists. She also has picked up 17 ground balls.

Tonight's contest will be the second game for the Hoyas on their three-game road swing.

After getting used to home advantage through most of March, playing five of its first seven games at home, Princeton will play just three of its final nine regular season games at home. Princeton and Georgetown face off at 7:30 p.m. at Class of 1952 Stadium.