Princeton dethroned

By the time the sun set in Hanover, N.H. on Saturday and the women's lacrosse team began its long bus ride back to New Jersey, the Tigers found themselves residing in unknown territory — second place in the Ivy League.

None of Princeton's current players have ever ended the regular season without at least a share of the Ivy League title. But after the No. 3 Tigers' 12-9 loss to No. 4 Dartmouth in Hanover on Saturday, the Big Green (13-0 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) clinched the title outright for the first time since 2000, leaving Princeton (10-3, 5-1) empty-handed for the first time since its current players were in high school.

The battle between the two perennial Ivy League powers was deadlocked through the first half, as the score stood knotted at six at halftime. Scoring bursts by both teams marked the action early, initiated by Dartmouth, which jumped out to an quick lead. Before two minutes had elapsed, Katieann Christian and Sarah Sanborn had already netted goals for the Big Green.

The Tigers fought back with a 4-1 scoring spree of their own, led by two tallies from senior attack Lindsey Biles to give Princeton a 4-3 lead. Sophomore midfielder Kathleen Miller and freshman attack Ashley Amo also contributed goals.

The lead was short-lived, though, and the Big Green took advantage of a three-goal scoring streak to reclaim a two-goal lead. It appeared as if the Tigers would go into the locker room at halftime facing a deficit, but freshman midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica kept Princeton alive with two free position shots in the last two minutes of the first half, converting on both opportunities.

Jen Pittman came out of the halftime break on fire for Dartmouth, and her two goals gave the Big Green a quick lead that would prove to be the difference in the game. In the second half, Dartmouth simply got more opportunities than the Tigers, outshooting Princeton 15-10. The Tigers were also plagued by fouls in the second half, committing fourteen to the Big Green's three. Dartmouth took advantage of their free position shots by scoring on three of seven opportunities in the second half.

"The game was physical and rough the whole time," sophomore midfielder Christine Dobrosky said. "The refs were calling a tight game, but it went both ways."

Dobrosky came off the bench to answer the Big Green's run, scoring the first of her two goals with 19 minutes, 28 seconds remaining to play. Princeton could never fully close the gap, though, as Dobrosky and Lewis-Lamonica were the only players able to find the back of the net in the final period. Lewis-Lamonica converted on the Tigers' lone free position opportunity of the half, and Dobrosky closed out Princeton's scoring with her second goal with 1:47 remaining.

The Tigers' senior leaders struggled and failed to score, and the rest of the team was unable to step up enough to halt the onslaught of the talented Dartmouth attack. Though Biles climbed into third place on the Princeton career scoring list, her two-goal effort was a drop from her recent performances, in part because she was stifled by a Big Green defense intent on shutting her down.

Senior midfielder Elizabeth Pillion was uncharacteristically absent from the scoring. She was forced to sit out most of the second half due to a hamstring injury sustained in the first.

"She's a huge part of our team," Dobrosky said. "She's the person who's all over the field, getting groundballs and making plays. We definitely missed her."

The Dartmouth defense forced the Tigers to commit 19 turnovers, and the Big Green hustled to edge out Princeton in other categories to create more scoring opportunities. Dartmouth claimed 13 draw controls to Princeton's 10 and had a 30-25 advantage in groundballs.

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The Big Green's win guarantees it an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and crushes one of the Tigers' major goals for the season — taking the Ivy crown. Princeton will still likely be offered a bid to the tournament, where the Tigers will look to redeem themselves.

"Because we lost, there's pressure on us on not just to win but to dominate [in our next games]," Dobrosky said.