The women's lacrosse matchup this weekend could be like a scene from Star Wars, with upcoming Yale playing the part of Luke Skywalker and veteran Princeton taking the role of Darth Vader.
The No. 9 Tigers (4-3 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) are far from evil, but history certainly tags them as the favorite when they face the No. 15 Bulldogs (9-3, 2-1) in this Saturday's 2 p.m. matchup at Johnson Field in New Haven, Conn.
"This is our second season now. Now we focus on our league," senior attack Kathleen Miller said.
The women's lacrosse landscape in the Ivy League has been as constant as the western plains, evidenced by the Tigers' 74-1 record against Dartmouth since 1994. Princeton and the Big Green have dominated the League.
There could be a new contender on the field, however. The Bulldogs have run off five consecutive victories, including one over Princeton's traditional rival No. 16 Dartmouth.
The streak impresses, but Yale hasn't come close to playing at the high level of competition that Princeton has faced. Aside from the Big Green, No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 18 Connecticut, the Bulldogs haven't played any ranked teams, and the game against the Irish was tallied in the loss column.
Yale has gotten it done mostly on offense, thanks to the dynamic abilities of midfielder Lauren Taylor, who has already won three Offensive Ivy League Player of the Week awards, including the most recent one.
Whenever she touches the ball, something happens. Taylor has already scored 47 goals on 82 shots — currently the highest goal tally in Division I, and leads the team with 10 assists. In short, she's an offensive powerhouse.
And make no mistake — the Bulldogs will attack the net, forcing an inordinate amount of pressure onto the opposing team's defense and goaltender. Yale has taken 131 more shots than its opponents so far this season, good for a plus-40 margin in terms of goals scored.
A pair of additional 20-goal scorers support Taylor: defender Jenn Warden and midfielder Kat Peetz.
Both can be dangerous in their own right, though neither has the ruthless efficiency or explosive potency that Taylor has.
Despite the eye-popping statistics of the Bulldogs' offense, the Tigers more than match up, averaging 12.61 goals per game versus the Bulldogs' 11.88 goals per game.
"If we bring our A-game, we're absolutely impossible to defeat," Miller said.
The main difference between the two teams lies in the distribution of offensive power on the Tiger team. While Yale mostly looks to three scorers, the Tigers have had 12 different players score this year. Junior midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica paves the way for Princeton with 23 goals.
"We have a lot of plays that are designed to set up Katie because she's a great leftie. There are a couple plays that we get to run off each other," Miller said.
Miller is second on the team with 15, and after that the number drops off dramatically, but total goals scored surpasses that of Yale.
The numbers tell the story of the two teams — the Bulldogs rely on two or three key players to produce time again, while Princeton can turn to a wide variety of options when the pressure's on and the team needs a goal.
"If you compare [Yale and us], we have so many people that can shoot and so many people that can feed," Miller said. "When they try and take away one option something is always going to open up on our team."
Which makeup will prevail remains to be seen, but it will be an important contest for each team. Yale has already suffered a loss to Penn, and the Tigers can't afford to give the Bulldogs or the Big Green control of their own destinies.
Right now, Princeton is in control of its Ivy League destiny, at 1-0 after a victory over Cornell. The trek back to the top continues tomorrow, and the Tigers have the power.
And they want to keep it that way.
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