Princeton, recording its eighth straight win and its 10th overall, dominated from the start, spearheaded by senior midfielder Kristin Schwab’s career-high five goals. Junior attack Kristin Morrison also found the back of the net four times.
Morrison was satisfied with the performance that the Tigers put up against the Crimson.
“On both ends of the field, we were patient in our play,” Morrison said. “On the attack end, we really worked the ball for the right opportunity. On the defensive end, we had strong slides and great double teams.”
Princeton had no trouble getting its scoring run started in the matchup. Schwab found the back of the net merely 46 seconds in, and she notched another goal just three minutes later.
“Schwab had a great game today,” Morrison said. “You can always count on her to get the job done — whether that’s creating a caused turnover or putting the ball in the back of the net. She’s a solid all-around player.”
With Morrison and freshman midfielder Cassie Pyle scoring goals within 10 seconds of each other, the Tigers built a 4-0 lead early in the first half. Freshman midfielder Allison Behringer put another one in the back of the net at the 22-minute mark.
At this point, Princeton was firing on all cylinders. Morrison notched another goal, and 21 seconds later, senior attack Christine Casaceli found the back of the net on a free-position shot, giving the Tigers a sizeable 7-0 lead.
But the Tigers weren’t finished with their scoring barrage. Senior midfielder and tri-captain Holly McGarvie added an unassisted goal to Princeton’s tally. Then, again only 10 seconds later, Schwab netted her third goal of the first half. After another goal from Morrison, sophomore midfielder Caroline Markowitz got on the board for the Tigers. Schwab added the final goal of the first half, and Princeton headed into the locker room with a comfortable 12-0 lead.
On the defensive side, sophomore goalie Erin Tochihara was effective, stopping five Crimson shots in the first half.
Head coach Chris Sailer noted that she was quite happy with the lead her team built up in the first half of play.
“Obviously we dominated from the start and never let them get into the game,” Sailer said. “A 12-0 halftime lead is a very big margin in lacrosse. Defensively we held their top three scorers to zero points, and we seemed to intimidate their ball handlers with our aggressive and smart defensive play.”
The Tigers continued their stellar performance in the second half, gaining a 15-0 lead with 22 minutes left in the game after contributions from sophomore attack Lizzy Drumm, McGarvie and Morrison.
In the beginning of the second half, Sailer switched Tochihara for junior goalie Kaitlyn Perelle. Harvard finally got on the board at the 20:41 mark when midfielder Katie Doherty shot the ball past Perrelle. The Crimson scored another goal at the 19:02 mark, making the score 15-2.
Pyle scored another goal with less than 15 minutes left. The Crimson came back with a goal from defender Shannon Flynn at 5:21, but Schwab answered with her fifth goal of the game soon after. Harvard tallied two more scores, but it was too little, too late, as the game ended with Princeton winning 17-5.
Sailer was quick to recognize several of her players for their outstanding efforts in the matchup.
“We controlled the draws the whole game, which really limited Harvard’s looks,” said Sailer. “Our entire team played well, but I would single out Kristen Schwab and Kristen Morrison on offense and [senior defender] Marie McKenna and [senior midfielder] Katie Cox on defense.”
The Tigers outshot the Crimson by a 37-12 margin and had a 14-9 lead in draw controls.
Morrison noted that what the Tigers worked on in practice paid off in the game.
“Many of our practices this week have focused on the draw control and the transition game,” Morrison said. “I thought we stood out in both areas.”
On Wednesday night, Princeton travels to Philadelphia, P.A., to take on Penn. The Tigers hope that their solid play and their impressive winning streak will continue against the Quakers.
“For the Penn game, we’ll be working on our transition play, handling high defensive pressure in our attack end and being directive and sliding as a unit on defense,” Sailer said.
The matchup against the Quakers has particular significance as it will decide the Ivy League standings since both teams are thus far undefeated.
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