Casaceli & Co. bury Lions

Princeton ordinarily comes out strong — the Tigers have outscored opponents 55-25 in the first half this year — and Wednesday night was no exception. For the fifth time in eight games, Princeton never trailed, as its offense dominated the action from the get-go. Junior midfielder Kristin Schwab took the first ball control, and freshman midfielder Lizzy Drumm scored the team’s first goal off an assist from senior attack Ashley Amo just 46 seconds into the game.

Schwab, junior attack Christine Casaceli and Amo all added goals in the next 10 minutes to give the Tigers a 4-0 lead with roughly 20 minutes left before halftime. Columbia held Princeton off for the next 10 minutes and got on the board with a goal from attack Holly Glynn with 10 minutes, 30 seconds left in the half. The Tiger offense got back on track with goals from Casaceli, Amo and senior midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica, giving the team a daunting 7-1 margin at the end of the period.

On defense, Princeton held Columbia to only three shots on goal in the first half.

“We knew that going into the game against Columbia we would need to play well all over the field,” Casaceli said. “One of our biggest goals was to make big defensive stops. Going into the game, we knew that they would probably stall on their attack end so that our defense needed to be ready to make those stops and our attack needed to finish all of our opportunities.”

After 10 minutes of scoreless play to open the second half, Casaceli jumpstarted the offense with her second goal, giving the Tigers an 8-1 lead. Schwab scored her second goal of the game just over a minute later, though Columbia attack Brittany Shannon countered with a free-position shot to make the score 9-2 with 17:50 remaining.

Sophomore midfielder Jenna Washabaugh then scored off an assist from sophomore attack Kaitlin Donovan to extend the Tigers’ lead back to eight before Shannon scored her second goal of the game off an assist from Glynn, making the score 10-3 with 9:05 to go.

Unwilling to let the game slip away, Princeton responded with another 4-0 run featuring two goals from senior midfielder Courtney Bird and one each from freshman midfielder Caroline Markowitz and sophomore attack Kristin Morrison in a three-minute span during which the Lions never touched the ball.

Columbia and Princeton traded goals in the final five minutes, and the Tigers left New York with a 15-4 victory.

“We had the goal of only allowing Columbia’s attack to score four goals or less, and we were able to hold them to that,” Casaceli said. “Our entire team had a solid performance in the Columbia game, which makes us feel even more prepared for Yale.”

Ten of the 18 Tigers who took the field Wednesday scored goals, led by Casaceli’s three tallies. Four of the Tigers’ goals came from freshmen and sophomores, and six came from players off the bench. Princeton outshot the Lions 28-7, won 15 of 21 draw controls and recovered 18 ground balls to the Lions’ eight.

The Tigers now have an 11-0 record all-time against Columbia and have scored 15 or more goals in 10 of those games.

Princeton’s next target is No. 13 Yale (8-3, 2-1), who will take on the Tigers at Class of 1952 Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. Yale trails Harvard by half a game in the standings after dropping its Ivy opener to Penn.

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After falling to the Quakers, the Bulldogs eked out a 9-8 overtime win over Dartmouth to start of the team’s current four-game winning streak. Yale has outscored its opponents 118-82 so far this season, though that margin has been considerably smaller against other members of the Ancient Eight. In Ivy competition, the Bulldogs have only outscored their opponents 27-24.

For Princeton, the key will be stopping Yale from building momentum. In the Bulldogs’ 19-9 defeat of Holy Cross on Wednesday, most of their goals came during a 14-0 run. Midfielder Lauren Taylor led the team with six goals and three assists. Taylor and the Tigers have a history. When Princeton faced Yale last season, Taylor scored with just 10 seconds left to give her team a 6-5 come-from-behind win.

“We are excited to enter this Saturday with two strong Ivy League wins,” junior midfielder Holly McGarvie said. “We know that we cannot take any team for granted, especially after last year’s loss against Yale, but we are focusing on this year’s team. We expect to play our game with strong defensive play and a threatening attack.”

On offense, the Tigers must keep an eye on Yale’s top defender, Jess Champion, who limited Holy Cross’ offensive leader to just four shots and one goal in Wednesday’s game. Thankfully for Princeton, the Tigers no longer rely on a single goal scorer to carry them through games.

“I think what makes our team so strong is our balanced attack,” McGarvie said. “This weekend, it will be important for us to continue to work from every angle offensively.”

With three days to focus on defeating the Bulldogs, Princeton will be looking to take revenge for last year’s loss Saturday.