Hosting Harvard, Princeton aims to surpass .500 in Ivies

In a matchup that coincides with April's annual matriculation battles, the No. 13 women's lacrosse team (5-4 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) will face Harvard (2-8, 0-2) at Class of 1952 stadium at noon tomorrow.

The Tigers have had a roller-coaster season. After wins over heralded teams like Johns Hopkins and Rutgers, Princeton has lost to No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Virginia and No. 8 Penn State by a total of five goals.

Then the Tigers started their Ivy League schedule, opening up with a lopsided victory over Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y., 18-9. It looked like the team was starting to gel, and that this win was the start of another midseason run for Princeton, which last year streaked deep into the NCAA tournament before coming a goal short of the Final Four.

But it seems the optimism was a bit premature. In a crucial Ivy League matchup away from Class of 1952 Stadium last Saturday, Princeton succumbed to No. 12 Yale in heartbreaking fashion. With 10 seconds left and the game presumably going into overtime, Yale midfielder Lauren Taylor scored an unassisted game-winning goal. The victory propelled the Bulldogs from No. 15 to No. 12 in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association rankings and did little to help Princeton's chances at an Ivy League regular season title.

The Tigers bounced back with an 18-7 win over Temple on Wednesday, but in order for the team to improve its consistency, some change must occur.

"We are a team that has talked about competing and winning a national championship since our 2006 season ended," junior midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica said. "We absolutely have the talent and drive to achieve great things, but we've struggled during the first half of the season. We want to make Temple a turning point for this season."

Against the Owls, the Tigers enjoyed a one-sided victory, but what far more remarkable were Lewis-Lamonica's seven goals — the greatest single-game total for a Tiger in 17 years. The outstanding effort gave her a team-high 32 goals in only nine contests and marked her as a formidable weapon on whom opposing teams must focus in order to have a chance at victory.

"Lewey is a force to reckon with, and she only stopped at seven because she was subbed," senior defense Caitlin Reimers said. "But in all seriousness, her speed and agility make her an unstoppable player all over the field."

With Harvard coming up, Princeton hopes its rivalry with Harvard will give it the edge necessary to perform at the high level it has shown intermittently this season.

"Our rivalry with all Ivy League opponents is fierce," Reimers said. "In my four years, we have always dominated the Harvard game. We plan to make a statement on Saturday by playing aggressively from the first whistle to the last."

Harvard may not be up to the challenge of playing at the level those familiar with the rivalry have come to know and expect. The Crimson, after winning its first game against instate opponent Holy Cross, has won only one other game and is currently mired in a five-game losing streak. Not only has Harvard lost often, it has only played four ranked teams — to Princeton's six — and has lost by an average of 12 goals in its defeats.

To be fair, the Crimson has had a few bright spots in an otherwise lackluster season. Caroline Simmons has scored 17 goals and assisted on three others. Fellow attack Kaitlin Martin, a sophomore, has 23 goals and five assists this season in only 10 games. Freshman Sara Flood has tallied 17 points.

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Considering Harvard's record, its stock of young talent and the fact that it has only one senior on its roster, it is safe to say that Harvard is in a rebuilding year.

Princeton, however, is not. The Tigers want to win, and they want to win now. The key to contending among the national powerhouse programs is the Ivy title. Beating Harvard will help that cause, and maybe sway a few pre-frosh into making the right decision, too.