Princeton crushes Brown on senior day

In their entire careers at Princeton, the seniors on the women's lacrosse team have lost just two Ivy League games, tallying an overall record of 26-2. At senior day on Saturday, they made sure not to blemish that record as the No. 4 Tigers (12-3 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) routed Brown (3-10, 1-5) in the final Ivy League contest of the season, 17-5. The seniors, attacks Lindsey Biles, Ingrid Goldberg and Leigh Slonaker, midfielder Elizabeth Pillion, defender Jennifer Austin and goalie Sarah Kolodner, were honored in a ceremony before the game.

"It was a great way to go out for our seniors," head coach Chris Sailer said. "They've certainly accomplished a lot and did a great job today. In general, our attack did a great job of finding open people."

Princeton dominated from the outset, running up a 6-1 lead in the first half. Goldberg had two assists and two goals in the first half alone, leading the scoring frenzy. On the defensive end, the Tigers allowed just four Brown shots in the entire first period.

Less than two minutes into the game, sophomore midfielder Kathleen Miller caught a pass from Goldberg to open the scoring. Biles netted two goals, and junior attack Jamie Sundheim and Goldberg also scored before Brown's Amy Biros managed to find the back of the net with five minutes, 28 seconds remaining. Goldberg's second goal closed out the half.

"It was a little sad knowing that it's almost over," Goldberg said. "But it was a great game for us, and that makes it a lot better. Our attack did a nice job the entire game."

Princeton reached for its deep bench in the second half but showed no pity on the Bears. The attack practically doubled its scoring output, tallying 11 goals, including four from sophomore midfielder Alex Gangler. Gangler came off the bench to score her first goal of the season with 8:16 remaining. After Sarah Passano scored what would be Brown's last goal of the game, Gangler charged to three consecutive goals in the last two minutes of the game, doubling her scoring total from a year ago in just a single outing.

At the start of the first half, the Tigers put together a seven-goal run in the initial 13 minutes. Sophomore midfielder Christine Dobrosky tallied the first goal less than three minutes after the draw, and Princeton's assault didn't slow down until halfway through the period. Freshman midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica scored an unassisted goal, and Miller subsequently converted on a free position shot. The Tigers' unyielding attack resulted in eight free position shots to the Bears' one, but Princeton was only able to convert on three attempts.

At 24:04, Biles scored the first of three straight goals. Less than five minutes later, she had tallied her fifth goal of the game and her 48th of the season to bring her career total to 168.

The Tiger defense was no less relentless in the second half, allowing just four shots to find the back of the net. Substitute goalies freshman Meg Murray and sophomore Colleen O'Boyle saw time and played solidly. Princeton held Kate Staley, the Bears' leading scorer, to just one shot attempt and zero points.

For Brown, Passano and Biros each tallied two goals apiece to lead the Bears' offense. A goal by Ashley Hogan sparked a three-goal run by Brown midway through the second half, but it wasn't enough for them to climb back into the game, as it merely narrowed the Tigers' advantage to 13-4. Julia Southard had 12 saves in goal while facing all 41 of Princeton's shot attempts.

The Tigers' win marked the 13th straight season that they have finished with no more than one loss in the Ivy League. It is also the 12th straight year that either Dartmouth or Princeton has won the title. However, this is the first time since 2000 that the Tigers do not hold at least a part of the Ivy League championship.