Diverse team aims to restore '02 glory

Game planning. Ultimately, that's what you try to do to your opponents. Whether it's shutting down a key spot-up shooter in a basketball game or stifling the big, bruising running back in football, there's always a gameplan — a way to play to one's strengths while shutting down the other team's fortes.

The challenge for the women's lacrosse team's opponents this year will be to decide which strength to cover.

Last year, Princeton was a defensive stalwart that relied upon timely scoring from a couple of key sources. Senior goalkeeper Colleen O'Boyle was a mob boss, and her defenders were her gang members — no one wanted to mess with that goal. The offense, though, was relatively young and vulnerable.

Those were the old Tigers. The new Tigers are experienced, deep and talented on all areas of the field, especially on offense. Last year's talented youngsters are this year's grizzled veterans.

"I think we are a very diverse team this year that can give a lot of very different looks," senior midfielder Caitlin Reimers said. "As strong as our defense played last year, we definitely want to score more goals this year."

It looks like it's going to happen. Princeton returns a deep midfield that morphed into a team strength last year. That group should only get better this year, with junior midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica leading the way. Lewis-Lamonica led the team last year with 38 goals and was a first team all-region player.

Alongside Lewis-Lamonica are sophomore midfielders Holly McGarvie and Katie Cox. McGarvie was third on the team last year in scoring with 22 goals, while Cox added 11 to go with six assists.

Another key asset will be sophomore Kristin Schwab, who scored 13 goals in the first six games of the season last year before succumbing to a season-killing knee injury.

The attack squad returns an equally gifted bunch. Senior attack Kathleen Miller, second in scoring with 34 goals, will headline the group.

"She's definitely one of the leaders of our attack — she came in our freshman year and was like a superstar," senior goalkeeper Colleen O'Boyle said. "She had a couple of injuries, but she's going to be back this year and is looking really strong. She looks quick. She knows lacrosse better than anyone on our team, better than most people in the league. She understands the offense, how it works, and she can score pretty much at will."

Miller will also be a leading presence as a tri-captain of the team, along with Reimers and O'Boyle.

But there's more to the offense than just Lewis-Lamonica and Miller now. Junior attacks Ashley Amo and Alison Murray both came on extremely strongly at the end of last year. More importantly, the duo showed a dramatic flair for coming through in the clutch when the team most needed an offensive boost.

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Amo finished with 11 goals in the last eight games of the season, including three against Virginia in Princeton's epic first-round upset. Murray actually started her lacrosse career as a defender before moving to attack late last year. The dividends became apparent immediately; she finished the season as one of seven Tigers with more than 10 goals. Three came against Dartmouth in Princeton's nail-biter loss in the NCAA tourney.

As a result of the maturation and experience on the offensive side of the ball, Princeton will head into the season with a balanced group of scorers, unlike last year, when Lewis-Lamonica and Miller shouldered the majority of the offensive load.

"I don't think they will feel the pressure as much this year as they have in years past; they won't feel as much of a need to score all the goals," Reimers said. "The biggest thing is that all of our attackers are really well balanced."

The lesson for this season's opponents? Hone in on one player and suffer the consequences. Princeton has visited the armory in the winter and heads into this season with a multitude of weapons.

This advanced level of development has allowed the Tigers to begin working on more advanced offensive sets already.

"We've started putting plays in a lot earlier this year — usually the first couple of weeks we're just working on passing, catching and the basics — but we have put in a lot of new things," O'Boyle said. "Two new defenses, some new attacks. It's definitely going to be a different look."

Reimers agreed.

"This year in particular, we have a really strong attack," Reimers said. "We have a lot of experience returning, a strong sophomore class and some talented freshmen who are definitely ready to step into leadership roles."

Such depth will ideally allow Lewis-Lamonica and Miller to use their vast talents to do more than just score goals. Now they can be offensive catalysts and dynamic playmakers as well as strong finishers.

It remains to be seen just how effective this offense will be, but all signs suggest that its quality may reach the staunch defense's level.

"We want to make it really hard for teams to gameplan for us," Reimers said.

If all goes according to plan, the Tigers will be one tough animal for opponents to figure out this year.