Women's Lacrosse: Laxers fall to Penn in 1st round of Ivy tournament

Senior attacker and tri-captain Kristin Morrison opened the scoring with the first goal, but over the next 30 minutes of contentious gameplay, Princeton allowed five straight goals, as Penn moved to a 5-1 lead just over a minute into the second half. The Tigers were able to fight back with a three-goal run, and Morrison’s second goal of the day made the score 5-4. But Princeton would not get any closer.

After that, Penn flipped the switch to turn on its attack, and the Quakers pushed their lead from one point to eight points in the matter of 12 minutes. Ivy League Player of the Year midfielder Ali DeLuca of Penn accounted for an incredible eight points on four goals and four assists, and notched a point on seven of the Quakers’ 10 second-half goals.

Morrison led the Tigers with three goals, followed closely by sophomore midfielder Barb Previ and junior attacker and tri-captain Lizzy Drumm with two goals each. Surprisingly, the Tigers finished without an assist, while Penn accumulated seven. Senior Jenna Washabaugh had five draw controls, but Penn notched a 15-9 advantage in draw controls over the entire game.

The loss ends the season for the Tigers and snaps a streak of 12 consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament. Though the playoff field has not yet been announced, Princeton is an unlikely candidate for an at-large bid given its losing record overall and its fourth-place finish in the Ivy League. However, the Tigers lose just four players to graduation, and they will look to bounce back next season as the young team matures further.

Penn controlled the ball for much of the first half, and though the score remained low, the Quakers accounted for 16 shots compared to the Tigers’ five attempts at goal. Despite the difference in shots, Princeton kept the game close through the first period thanks to strong defense and goalkeeping, including junior goalie Erin Tochihara’s nine first-half saves. Senior tri-captain and defender Sarah Vance led the defense with one caused turnover and also added a groundball.

The Tigers struggled with possessing the ball, turning the ball over five more times than Penn. In the first half, Princeton successfully converted just half of its clear attempts. With the combination of draw controls, failed clears and turnovers, Penn was able to control the tempo of the first half, but the Quakers still could not convert that into goals.

In the second half, however, the points came quickly for the Quakers. After three goals from Princeton put the score at 5-4, Penn called a timeout and buckled down defensively. A free-position goal by Drumm was the only scoring Princeton had for the next 15 minutes in the middle of the second half, as Penn scored eight goals to open up an eight-point lead.

The Tigers attempted to mount a comeback toward the end with senior goalie Kaitlyn Perrelle enjoying the last moments of her collegiate career in goal. Goals by Previ, Morrison, Drumm and sophomore midfielder Cassie Pyle lessened the deficit to arrive at the final score of 13-9.

Still, Penn finished with 31 total shots compared to Princeton’s 19, and no amount of late runs could overcome that defining deficit.

Princeton qualified for the conference tournament by beating then-No. 7 Dartmouth on a last-second overtime goal by freshman midfielder Caroline Rehfuss.

This time, however, Rehfuss and the Tigers could not conjure up the same type of magic, and they will have to look forward to next year for another opportunity.