Women's Lacrosse: Seniors carry squad to win over Big Green

“We walked onto the field knowing that we had to take care of business. Everyone on the team wanted to make a statement that we were not going anywhere anytime soon,” Murray said. “The loss to Penn was rough, but the game against Dartmouth gave us another opportunity to play the game the way we know that we can play it.”

Princeton (11-2, 5-1) was potentially looking at a second crushing Ivy League loss in the span of four days, as it trailed the Big Green 3-1 almost 13 minutes into the match. The Tigers broke the ice first when senior midfielder and tri-captain Katie Cox found freshman midfielder Allison Behringer at the 22:39 mark in the first half.

That goal only served to waken Dartmouth, which responded with a 3-0 run over the next five minutes. The Princeton defense stiffened, but the Tigers’ offense remained out of sync for the following eight minutes.

Luckily for Princeton, Murray finally found the spark to light the fire.

The Tigers got back into their reliable, potent transition attack, clearing the ball out of their zone with a little more than nine minutes remaining in the half. Senior midfielder and tri-captain Holly McGarvie then dished to Murray, who tallied her first score of the day.

Princeton finally regained the lead and its momentum five minutes later, when sophomore attack Lizzy Drumm and senior midfielder Kristin Schwab each found net in a span of 21 seconds.

Dartmouth goalie Julie Wadland did her best to keep the Big Green in the game, making six saves in the first half alone, but the Tigers’ offense was simply too potent.

Senior attack Christine Casaceli closed out the first half’s scoring when she earned a free-position shot with 2:31 remaining. Her attempt from the eight-meter line was good, giving her team a 5-3 lead heading into halftime.

The outcome of the game very much hung in the balance at the start of the second half, as both teams were held scoreless in the opening 10 minutes. Wadland was hard at work again: Attempting to keep her team within striking distance, she came up with three saves over that span of time.

Finally, with 19:38 left in the half, Casaceli notched her second goal of the game. Wadland had made a save on Schwab’s free-position shot, but she couldn’t stop Casaceli, who picked up a loose ground ball moments later and fired it into the back of the net.

Dartmouth scored one more time at 16:43 off a free-position shot, but that was all for the Big Green. Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Tochihara — recently named a Tewaaraton nominee for leading the nation in save percentage at a .573 percent clip — blanked Dartmouth the rest of the way. She had seven saves in the game, all in the second half.

Then, senior defender and tri-captain Marie McKenna joined her fellow captains in the point-recording cause. Cox recorded her second assist of the afternoon, finding McKenna for her second goal of the season, which gave Princeton a 7-4 lead.

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From that point, the Tigers simply dominated the field of play. Schwab, Murray, McGarvie and Casaceli closed out the 8-0 run that McKenna started.

“I don’t think that we turned up the intensity so much as we played Princeton lacrosse the way it should be played,” Murray said of the team’s run. “We had fun.”

Murray led the way with three more markers, all off free-position shots. Her four goals were a career-high.

“I actually got pretty lucky with this game,” Murray said. “Dartmouth kept fouling me, and that put me on the line for some eight-meters, and those are my favorite. Other than that, I don’t think there was anything different — things just fell into place.”

Casaceli had three goals on the day, while McGarvie had a pair of scores and an assist. Schwab also had two goals and an assist.

It was a much-needed rebound victory for Princeton, which now stands alone in second place in the Ivy League. Three days after failing to give Penn a serious contest, the Tigers rolled over Dartmouth in almost every statistical category. Princeton outshot the Big Green 35-18 on the afternoon and scrapped for 26 ground balls to its opponents 23. The Tigers also held a small 10-9 margin on draw controls.

Wadland was about the only thing standing in the way of a more dominant Princeton victory. Her 11 saves kept Dartmouth in the contest until the final 15 minutes of the second half, when the Tigers’ senior class authoritatively asserted itself.

“There is no downhill for this season. It is not even an option,” Murray said. “Sure there are bumps along the way, but smooth is boring. This season is about our journey our mission and Dartmouth was another stop along the way. It was just a great day to play some lax.”