With nine significant players gone from last year, the women’s lacrosse team will begin its season against Johns Hopkins on Saturday with a much younger group of players than in years past.
“It’s a fresh start,” head coach Chris Sailer said, adding that this year’s team is “probably the least experienced team I’ve had.” She emphasized multiple times that, compared to previous squads, this year’s will be “a whole new team.”
Because of the team’s inexperience, however, Sailer said that the overriding goal for the season will not be a set number of victories but consistent improvement every day.
“My hope for them is that they really play as well as they can and as hard as they can,” Sailer said. “We’re really just focused on becoming the best team that we can be.”
Johns Hopkins, Princeton’s season-opening opponent, had a similarly young team last season and returns 11 starters. Last year, Princeton won the matchup, 13-9. Hopkins opened its year with a victory over George Mason but lost to Georgetown on Wednesday 15-9.
The Tigers will play Rutgers on Wednesday, March 3, in their home opener. The Tigers will start the season ranked No. 9 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Preseason Poll and listed as No. 10 by Lacrosse Magazine.
Underclassmen make up more than half of the team’s 24 players, and the team boasts only five seniors. Sailer said that the coaching staff chose a smaller team this season on purpose to allow more time for individual teaching.
Despite the team’s youth, Sailer has high hopes for its development. She is especially optimistic about the freshman class, she said, noting that it’s definitely “going to make an impact.”
“It’s very clear that they are a talented group, an athletic group,” she explained. “We’re very excited about them as individuals and as a group.”
Sailer isn’t the only person noticing their rapid progress during preseason practices.
“The last week to two weeks, we’ve really taken a big jump,” sophomore defender Lindsey deButts said.
Several team members said that the guiding theme for the season is “fresh.” Sophomore defender Cathy Bachur said that what they have been doing in practice has been a new process for everyone involved.
“We’re taking on new roles,” she added.
The lack of a large senior class has put more pressure on existing leaders, and several players have stepped up to the challenge.
“The senior class has taken on coach-like attitudes this season in encouraging and instructing our teammates,” senior tri-captain and defender Sarah Vance said in an e-mail. “[We] may be small in numbers, but our instruction, encouragement and pledge to hold our teammates accountable has all helped the younger classes, particularly the freshmen, to improve and excel these past months.”
Last season, the Tigers were carried by their then-seniors — including Ivy League Player of the Year and midfielder Holly McGarvie ’09 and defender and second-team All-America selection Marie McKenna — to a 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA women’s lacrosse tournament. After finishing second in the Ivy League behind Penn, Princeton’s tournament run ended in a loss to five-time defending champion Northwestern.
Despite their success in previous seasons, the Tigers are not taking anything for granted this year.
“We’re just trying to play one game at a time,” Sailer said. “We take every team as a tough challenge.”
There will be plenty of tough challenges in the future for the Tigers, as their schedule has them playing against several top-10 teams, including Duke, Georgetown and Maryland. These non-conference games add to the already difficult slate of Ivy League opponents, including rivalry games against Penn and Dartmouth.
This year may be judged less on their win-loss record and more on player development. Sailer said the team’s goal will be to “compete when we step on the field” and that this group of women will have to be “resilient.”
Helping them get to that point will be last year’s second team All-America junior goalkeeper Erin Tochihara.
She finished near the top of the Ivy League last season with a .530 save percentage and hopes to improve on her success. Rounding out a strong goalkeeping unit behind Tochihara will be senior Kaitlyn Perrelle.
Tochihara said in an e-mail that she was excited for the new season because of the range of possibilities opened by the team’s youthfulness.
“[S]uch a young team brings new energy and life to the field,” she noted. “Anything is possible.”
Junior attacker and tri-captain Lizzy Drumm — the team’s leading returning scorer — headlines the attack. Alongside her will be her former high-school teammate, senior attack and tri-captain Kristin Morrison.
While the attack and goalie positions seem solidified, the midfield and defense lines have been hit especially hard by the departure of last year’s graduates.
After losing four of last year’s main defenders, the defensive unit will revolve around Vance and deButts.
The least-experienced section of the team is the midfield line, with four freshmen, three sophomores, a junior and a senior.That lone senior, Jenna Washabaugh, has really “stepped up her game” throughout preseason practices, according to Sailer. Despite the youthful lineup, Sailer said she feels strongly about this group.
“We think we are going to actually be deeper in the midfield this year than we were last year,” Sailer said.
Now in her 24th year with Princeton, Sailer has presided over many of the successes in Princeton’s women’s lacrosse history, and she was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Fame in 2008.
Her resume includes three national titles, three national Coach of the Year awards, nine Ivy League Championships and a .747 winning percentage.
Hopefully Sailer’s young team will be able to learn from her experience as the Tigers look to push the program’s tournament streak to 13 years in a row.
Read More
With Pierce to sit out the year, men’s basketball loses last senior standing
Harrison BlankSenior forward Caden Pierce announced today that he will be sitting out his senior season of basketball at Princeton in the interests of maintaining his final year of eligibility.
Senior forward Caden Pierce announced today that he will be sitting out his senior season of basketball at Princeton in the interests of maintaining his final year of eligibility.
Women’s ice hockey names Courtney Kessel as new head coach
Lily PampolinaFollowing the resignation of Cara Gardner Morey, Princeton appointed Courtney Kessel as head coach.
Following the resignation of Cara Gardner Morey, Princeton appointed Courtney Kessel as head coach.
Former women’s basketball forward Parker Hill ’25 signs professional contract in Switzerland
Doug SchwartzAfter a successful senior season, women's basketball forward Parker Hill signed a contact to play professional basketball in Europe, following in the steps of her past teammates.
After a successful senior season, women's basketball forward Parker Hill signed a contact to play professional basketball in Europe, following in the steps of her past teammates.