Women's Lacrosse: Tigers hoping for another upset win in NCAA tournament

The No. 17 women’s lacrosse team goes into the first round of the NCAA tournament confident despite its disappointing one-and-done performance in the Ivy League tournament. The Tigers (10-6 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) worried that they might not get an at-large bid after a first-round loss to Dartmouth ended their Ivy title hopes, but their prayers were answered on selection day and they will face No. 8 Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

“The only real information we had about whether or not we were going to get an at-large bid was just speculation across a couple of different forums and lacrosse websites, so we weren’t really sure which way it was going to go,” sophomore attacker Erin McMunn said. “It was a nerve-wracking situation but we’re very grateful that we got another chance to play.”

McMunn was recently named Ivy League Attacker of the Year and finished second in the league in points with 66 off of 38 goals and 28 assists this season.

The Tigers are accustomed to facing high-ranked teams such as the Blue Devils (12-5, 2-3 ACC), and they are accustomed to beating them. In the last half of their season, the Tigers lost to just one ranked opponent — top-ranked Maryland — while defeating then-No. 12 Johns Hopkins, then-No. 11 Cornell and, in the regular season finale, then-No. 6 Penn State.

“I think our team does very well in an underdog position,” McMunn said. “It helps us confidence-wise that we’ve had quality wins.”

The Blue Devils have three wins over ranked opponents themselves, one of which was a narrow victory over Georgetown, which had handily defeated the Tigers just a week before.

Duke was upset in the first round of their conference tournament, as was Princeton. The Blue Devils fell to No. 19 Virginia 10-7 but ended the tournament on a high note, defeating unranked Boston University by nine in their consolation match. The Tigers got no such consolation after their back-and-forth first-round match with Dartmouth (10-7, 5-2) ended in a double-overtime loss.

“We know we’ve performed well throughout the season, and that game was a game that could have gone either way,” head coach Chris Sailer said. “I think we realize how important possession is in this game and I think we’re going to learn from that game and move forward.”

The Blue Devils are led by five All-ACC selections, including freshman goalie Kelsey Duryea who led the ACC this year in ground balls per game, saves per game and save percentage.

Duke has been in the national spotlight all season, consistently ranked in the top ten and having made their 13th consecutive NCAA tournament. Though the Tigers missed the tournament last season after making it in 2011, when they won the Ivy League tournament but lost to Maryland in the quarterfinals of the tournament, they are led by several players with tournament experience. Senior attacker Jaci Gassaway, junior midfielder Sarah Lloyd and senior midfielder Charlotte Davis accounted for three of Princeton’s six points in the loss, and all have been major contributors since. Lloyd had 18 goals, 14 assists and 48 draw controls this season, while Gassaway scored 23 goals despite starting only once. Davis has 18 goals and five assists and has scooped up 13 ground balls and was recently selected to play in the North-South Senior All-Star Game along with senior defender Caroline Rehfuss, an All-Ivy pick who has caused 18 turnovers.

“They’ve meant so much to our team, as have all of our seniors,” Sailer said. “Our seniors have been really great leaders for the team this year, very united as a group.”

Princeton finished second in the Ivy League in goals per game with just under 12, while Duke averaged 12.88.

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The Blue Devils have won their last four meetings with the Tigers, with Princeton’s last victory coming in 2008. The last time they met in the tournament was 2000, when the Tigers won 9-8 in a triple-overtime thriller and went on to fall in the national championship game.

The winner of Friday’s game, which takes place at 7 p.m. in Annapolis, will play the winner of the Navy/Monmouth match Sunday for a spot in the quarterfinals.