Tigers roar past Lions

The women's lacrosse team proved to be a second-half team yet again last night in its 13-4 Ivy League season-opening win over Columbia at Class of 1952 Stadium.

No. 3 Princeton (4-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) scored five unanswered goals to start the second half as it pulled away from the Lions (4-1, 0-1). Seven different Tigers scored in the victory.

Despite the win, however, head coach Chris Sailer was not entirely pleased, citing her team's lack of communication and awareness at the beginning of the game.

"I certainly would have expected the team to respond with much more passion and fire after the Penn State game than we did out here today," Sailer said after the game. "That was disheartening."

This lack of "fire" was evident early on, as the team surrendered a three-goal lead in the first half when Lion Elyse Pultz scored with just over five minutes to play in the half, tying the score at 3-3. Princeton recorded two more goals on shots by freshman attack Ashley Amo and senior attack Lindsey Biles to give them a two-goal lead at the half. Biles tallied two goals and two assists in the win.

"What concerns us most is the lack of togetherness on the field," Sailer said. "We are much better than we're playing."

Sophomore midfielder Kathleen Miller echoed her coach's remarks.

"I think each of us needs to step up and bring our games," she said, "and just click as a unit instead of just going through the motions."

After Sailer's stern talk to her team in the locker room at the half, the Tigers came out with the spark they had been missing in the first 30 minutes. Miller, the offensive leader in the game with three goals and one assist, scored the first of seven second-half goals just under five minutes into the half. Junior attack Olachi Opara added to Princeton's three-goal lead at the 18 minute, 49 second mark, making the score 7-3.

Senior midfielder Elizabeth Pillion, quiet in the first half, put the game away with two consecutive goals. Just past the midpoint of the half, she brought the ball into the offensive zone and, facing a defender one-on-one, faked one way, went the other, blew by her defender and shot low past Columbia's (4-1, 0-1) goaltender Marcela Calidonio. Her second goal, three minutes later, came off of a feed from Biles. Pillion cut to the net and beat the goalie high, increasing the Tiger's lead to 9-3.

Miller scored her third goal of the game 44 seconds later on a free position shot as she ran towards the net at full speed and shot low.

The Lions were held scoreless for the first 19 minutes of the second half, until Katie Warner beat Princeton's backup goaltender, sophomore Colleen O'Boyle, on the first shot she faced. O'Boyle had two saves in relief work.

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Princeton tallied two more goals before Opara capped the scoring with under a minute remaining, firing a shot on net as she fell to the turf.

The Tigers outshot the Lions 22-8 in the second half and have outscored their opponents 29-12 total in the second half of games this season. Senior goaltender Sarah Kolodner finished the game with six saves. Columbia's Calidonio had 16 saves on 38 Princeton shots.

With the win, the Tigers extended their Ivy League home win streak to 15 games. Princeton next plays No. 4 Virginia, who beat the Tigers in last season's NCAA championship, on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. Sailer recognizes that the team has much to work on before that match-up.

"I think we have to reconnect to what has made this program so strong," Sailer said, "like taking pride in what we do and in working hard and not assuming its going to come [our] way and playing hard for each other. We are not quite where we need to be."