For the second time in eight days, the Penn State women's lacrosse team downed the No. 1 team in the nation on its home turf.
This time, it was Princeton who fell victim to the underdogs. The Nittany Lions (5-1 overall) followed up their 10-7 victory over then-top-ranked Virginia on Mar. 11 with Saturday's 14-13 upset of the Tigers (3-1) at Class of 1952 Stadium.
After two scoreless overtime periods with the two teams deadlocked at 13, the game went into a sudden-death overtime.
It was then that Penn St. struck for its final and most important goal. With one minute, 22 seconds left in the sudden-death period, Nittany Lion attack Kristen Burke fired a quick shot past Princeton's senior goalkeeper Sarah Kolodner for her sixth goal of the game. The golden goal that ended the high-scoring game should send shock waves into the polls.
Penn St. dominated possession in the overtime periods and outshot Princeton 5-1.
"[In overtime] we weren't able to possess the ball long enough to get anything going," Kolodner said. "I don't think we won a single draw control in overtime, and that was definitely crucial."
The nail-biter began ominously for the Tigers when the Nittany Lions jumped out to an early 5-2 lead, the largest lead of the game for either team. A 4-1 Princeton run knotted the game at six and set the back-and-forth pace. For the rest of the game, neither team held more than a one-goal lead. The first half ended in an 8-8 tie.
The second half was more of the same. Neither team could seize momentum as Penn St. and the Tigers took turns finding the net.
Both teams went up a goal late in the game. A goal from senior attack Lindsey Biles gave Princeton a tenuous 12-11 lead with 12 minutes remaining in regulation. The Nittany Lions responded with two quick goals from midfielder Lori Havrilla and Burke. Then, Tigers' senior midfielder Elizabeth Pillion found the net with 2:40 left to knot the score at 13 and send the two teams into overtime.
The game featured six lead changes and four players who scored four or more goals. Princeton was not short on offensive production. Pillion scored a career-high six goals on the afternoon, and Biles added another four for the Tigers.
The only problem with the offense was that Princeton lacked a well-balanced attack.
"We would've liked to have more people than Biles and Pillion score," Kolodner said. "They both had great games, but we're going to need more people to step up on the attack."
Defensive breakdown
The Tigers' defense was their major weakness. Kolodner, whose goals-against average was 6.3 entering Saturday's contest, saw her average soar as she was scored on 14 times.
"It was the basic stuff — communication on defense, fundamental defensive positioning," Kolodner said.
The defeat was Princeton's first loss at Class of 1952 Stadium since a Mar. 9, 2003 contest against Loyola. It was also the Tigers' first regular-season loss in 24 games, dating back to an Apr. 9, 2003 contest at Yale.
"It was a wakeup call," junior attack Jamie Sundheim said. "I think it'll be something to learn from. After the game, [head coach Chris Sailer] reminded us that we can't keep winning if we play the way we've been playing."
The Tigers are determined to shrug off the loss as they face their first Ivy League contest against Columbia tomorrow. The next weekend the team travels to Charlottesville, Va., to take on the Cavalier squad that defeated Princeton in last year's NCAA championship game.
"I'm looking forward to going down to Virginia," Kolodner said. "We just need to keep getting better throughout the season."
Sundheim echoed Kolodner's optimism for the future.
"I guess [a loss] is better now than at the end of the season," she said. "We can move forward from here."
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