Women's Lacrosse: Rutgers rallies for upset

The No. 9 women’s lacrosse team fell in their home opener last night, losing a nail-biting match 12-11 against Rutgers. It was just the third time in history the Knights (3-0) have defeated Princeton (1-1). The match was the team’s first at Powers Field, which is replacing Class of 1952 Stadium as Princeton’s home turf this season.

The Tigers drew first blood, scoring on a goal from senior midfielder Jenna Washabaugh in the opening minutes, but five unanswered goals by Rutgers put the team in an early hole. Three of those goals were scored by Rutgers attack Kristen Anderson, who led the team with five goals.

Princeton picked up some momentum with back-to-back goals from freshman midfielder Charlotte Davis and junior attack Lizzy Drumm in the last minutes of the first period, but a Rutgers goal with 23 seconds left on the clock kept Princeton trailing by three at the half.

The Tigers came out strong at the beginning of the second half, maintaining possession of the ball for much of the first 15 minutes. Capitalizing on key draw controls, they stormed to a 10-7 lead with Drumm scoring two more goals. Freshman midfielder Caroline Rehfuss also contributed two goals during Princeton’s 7-1 run. Rehfuss led the team with four goals on the night.

Rutgers wrestled back some momentum on another goal from Anderson with 14 minutes remaining, though, and another two quick scores tied the game at 10.

Princeton managed to take its last lead of the night on Rehfuss’ fourth goal, but the Knights responded with a score of their own.

With less than five minutes remaining the Rutgers women won a crucial draw control and took their time finding a shot. After keeping possession for three minutes Rutgers midfielder Marlena Welsh found an opening in the Tiger defense and scored with two minutes remaining.

A last-ditch effort by Princeton fell short, as the Rutgers goalie deflected senior attacker Kristin Morrison’s shot with 30 seconds left.

Princeton managed to dominate the game’s draw controls and outpaced the Knights in free-position shots, but Rutgers made the most of their opportunities in both areas. The Knights converted all three of their free-position shots into scores, while Princeton scored three goals off of fouls as well but had nine chances to take advantage of the opportunity.

The Princeton women must now prepare for a tough match against No. 6 Duke on Saturday afternoon.