With only six games left in the regular season, the women's lacrosse team is flying high. This weekend, No. 8 Princeton (6-4 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) narrowly beat Yale (6-6, 1-3) by a score of 8-7 at a rain-drenched Class of 1952 Stadium. The win marks the fourth straight for the Tigers, maintaining their undefeated record in the Ivy League.
Princeton escaped with the one-goal victory, thanks to a late score by senior attack Olachi Opara. With fifteen minutes remaining and the game tied at seven apiece after a seesaw of scoring early in the game, Opara made a big time play at the biggest time.
Opara created her own chance by first knocking the ball out of the stick of Yale goaltender Ellen Cameron. Finding herself in a situation similar to one in the first half in which she had failed to capatalize, Opara made certain there would be no regrets following this golden opportunity. Circling around the Bulldog cage, Opara launched an aggressive shot that was far too quick for Cameron. The only thing that would touch this game-winning shot would be the back of the net.
Opara's goal proved to make the difference in a tight game. Neither team was able to maintain more than a one-goal lead in the game, and there were three lead changes throughout the course of the matchup.
Yale would not go down without a fight, however, and it took great defense until the end of the game for the Tigers to come away with the win. With 46 seconds left in the game, Bulldog midfielder Kat Peetz launched a free-position shot towards the Tiger net, but the play was whistled dead from the start because Peetz had left her spot before the whistle blew. After the foul, Princeton was able to run out the clock.
From the start, the Tigers and the Bulldogs engaged in a tug-of-war scoring battle. Yale drew first blood in the game when Peetz, who finished the game with two goals, scored on a free-position shot at 26 minutes, 49 seconds in the first half.
Facing a one-goal deficit early in the game, Princeton responded quickly. A minute after the Bulldogs scored, sophomore midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at one.
Lewis-Lamonica, who finished the game with a hat trick, scored her second goal of the day at the 21:15 mark of the first half to put her team ahead, 2-1.
Yale, however, would not let the Tigers sit with a lead for long. Attack Carli Vogler was able to get a shot past sophomore goalkeeper Meg Murray to knot the game at two. Midfielder Sara Greenberg scored at the 17:09 mark to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
Frosh step up
One of the highlights of Princeton's season so far has been the excellent execution of the freshmen on the squad. When the team has faced adversity, the first-year players have responded with goals and assists.
The freshman star for this game was midfielder Katie Cox. Facing the 3-2 deficit, Cox received a pass from junior attack Kathleen Miller and shot a bullet past Cameron and into the goal to tie the game at three.
After another Yale goal, Cox found Lewis-Lamonica, who scored her third goal of the half to knot the game, again, at four. But a Bulldog goal with two seconds left in the half put Yale ahead, 5-4.
The tug-of-war continued in the second half. Miller, who finished the game with one goal and two assists, tied the game at five with an unassisted goal at the start of the half. The Bulldogs responded again with a free-position goal from midfielder Taylor Fragapane to give her team a 6-5 lead.
Freshman midfielder Holly McGarvie, who has been a consistent goalscorer for the Tigers all season, scored her 14th goal of the year to tie the game up, once again, at six apiece. Cox scored her second goal of the game on a pass from Miller to give the Orange and Black a 7-6 lead with 18:48 left in the game, their first lead since early in the first half.
Peetz was able to tie the game at seven with 15:20 left on an unassisted goal. But Opara's goal slashed the hopes of a Bulldog comeback.
Princeton outshot Yale 23-16 in the game. The win is yet another indication of the Tigers' ability to emerge victorious from close games. More importantly, they were able to maintain their unbeaten streak against Ancient Eight opponents this season.
Princeton faces another Ivy League rival when it travels to Cambridge to take on Harvard this Saturday.
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