Impressive victories for both lacrosse teams

Slifer strikes five times in upset win over Grey Hounds

No. 15 women’s lacrosse (1-0 overall) proved they were a force to be reckoned with, as they topped No. 9 Loyola (0-1) in their season opener by a score of 10-8. The game was a tight contest between two of college lacrosse’s top teams. By the end of 60 minutes, Princeton’s methodical offensive approach and solid defending showed them to be the superior side.

Senior midfielder Erin Slifer dominated the contest with five goals on eight shots. Her combination of power and speed will torment opposing defenders and goalies throughout the season. Her classmate, senior Erin McMunn added a pair of goals in a complete team effort. McMunn, 2013’s Ivy League Attacker of the Year, drew the attentions of Loyola’s Maddy Lesher, the Colonial Athletic Association’s Defender of the Year from 2014.

“This is my last year, so I’m not going to hold back,” Slifer said postgame. “This whole team knows that we can go really far this year if we just push through every game.”

Junior Steph Polascio has stepped up in her third season, starting at attack and tormenting the Grey Hounds’ defense with off-ball movement and shifty dodging.

A 6-3 Princeton advantage at the half evaporated quickly due to a four-goal run by the Grey Hounds. Following the fourth consecutive Loyola score, Princeton coach Chris Sailer made the call to replace senior goalkeeper Annie Woehling with sophomore Ellie DeGarmo. Within five minutes, the second year player had made three impressive saves.

“Ellie has been knocking on the door all year long,” Sailer explained. “We thought at that point, she could give us a different look in the cage. She’s someone who can come in and perform. It gave us a boost helped turn the game when she got those few saves.”

In addition to the ball-stopping of DeGarmo, Slifer helped turned the tide with a powerful strike with an unassisted goal halfway through the second half.

Princeton employed a stifling strategy of slow possession to close out the contest. Taking possession off the draw just over the 11:00 mark, Princeton held onto the ball for over six minutes before a beautiful McMunn goal, assisted by sophomore Olivia Hompe, gave the Tigers a two-goal lead.

“We knew that it was all coming down to draw controls,” Sailer said. “We dominated those in the first half and felt that we needed possession to win the game.”

Princeton outshot the visitors by a margin of 25-21 with a first half disparity of 17-8. Their offense will remain among the nation’s most lethal, thanks in large part to the unstoppable senior duo of Slifer and McMunn.

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This Wednesday, the Tigers will host Drexel University at Sherrerd Field before traveling to Georgetown on Saturday. The Ivy League Digital Network will broadcast the former contest, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

In absurd conditions, Princeton powers past Pride to stay perfect

With a 14-12 win over the visiting Hofstra Pride, No. 20 men’s lacrosse (2-0 overall) continued their hot start in spite of icy conditions.

Saturday marked perhaps the strangest conditions any of the players or coaches present had ever been subject to. The snowfall which began during the preceding women’s game reached a blizzard-like level, painting the field at least an inch thick with powder. Players were severely limited in their ability to make quick cuts, which disadvantaged the smaller and shiftier attackmen of the Pride.

Perhaps fitting due to the conditions, the offensive stars for Princeton were two gentlemen from the Great White North. Senior attackman Mike MacDonald and sophomore midfielder Zach Currier, both natives of Ontario, Canada, proved too much for Hofstra to handle. Five goals and four assists came for the senior, a point total which equals his career-high. The sophomore, whose ball control and dodging ability verged on spectacular, tallied a hat trick while adding two assists.

“I know Currier from back home,” MacDonald said postgame, “And I knew that he could come in and be a great player for us. I think he’s got his confidence this season. He’s going to have a great year.”

This past summer, MacDonald underwent two hip surgeries which sidelined for the entirety of the fall. His form, which yielded 41, 59 and 39 points over the past three seasons, has not faded. To the contrary, the senior seems poised to take his already elite game to the next level in his final year.

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking with guys who have just graduated,” he said. “It’s really starting to sink in that this will be my last run at it. It’s a little weird, but I’m trying to make the most of it.”

The Tigers were able to overcome a slew of injuries to normally key contributors. Junior midfielder Jake Froccaro, an all-around dynamic player, did not suit up. Nor did his classmate, defenseman Mark Strabo, who had not missed a start in the prior two seasons. One more injury sidelined sophomore long pole Will Reynolds.

“The most experienced guy on defense was a sophomore,” head coach Chris Bates explained. “Aside from that, nobody’s played a whole lot of minutes for us. Our short stick defensive middies, Austin deButts and Austin Sims, did a good job. That’s unsung play. Our close defenders were solid all day.”

Sophomore Alistair Berven and freshman Aran Roberts joined sophomore Bear Goldstein on the starting defensive line. Behind them, senior goalkeeper Eric Sanschagrin registered perhaps his best-ever performance. The fourth-year netminder tallied a career-high 16 saves, including six rejections in the first quarter.

“Eric’s playing with confidence,” Bates noted. “It’s been a tough preseason for goalies. If you’re outside in the elements, sight lines are tough with the snow. And indoors is brutal for a keeper. But he had six or seven saves in the first quarter. And that was the difference. It gave us an opportunity to get our feet under us.”

Hofstra’s standout senior midfielder Mike Malave finished the game with a team-high four goals, three of which came on extra-man opportunities. Attackman Sam Llinares was able to see through the Princeton defense on a number of occasions and finished the game with five assists.

At the faceoff X, Hofstra’s Kris Clarke established a first quarter 4-1 advantage over freshman midfielder Sam Bonafede. By the second half, conditions had rendered faceoff battles more or less random as the players resorted to snow-shoveling in an effort to locate the ball.

Senior midfielder Kip Orban had the hot hand early. Princeton’s solo captain fired two punishing shots past Hofstra’s Chris Selva in the first quarter and added his third tally with 46 seconds remaining in the half.

Holding a slim 6-5 lead at halftime, Princeton blew the game open with a five-goal run in the third quarter. MacDonald was responsible for three consecutive goals within about 90 seconds.

The game was delicately poised in the fourth quarter. Hofstra had scored three straight, including two power play conversions. Frustratingly for Bates and his staff, sloppy Princeton play yielded a number of extra-man opportunities for the Pride.

With just under ten minutes to play, Princeton was on the disadvantaged side of a six-on-four situation resulting from a minute-long penalty on Berven and a two-minute unreleasable penalty on Sims. The quartet of Princeton defenders moved with precision, resulting in a turnover from the Pride’s Brier Davis.

Currier’s heroics shone with particular luster on and after the man-down clearance, as the sophomore endured multiple double-team attempts in order to kill the visitors’ power play. The Princeton fans and the bench were energized by their team’s resilience, and this momentum carried the Tigers for the contest’s remainder.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it was a gutty win,” Bates said. “And I think it was an identity win. That’s what we needed. We have some time to figures ourselves out before we play the Ivies. But we’re playing big-time teams in the next two weeks.”

Challenges will indeed come early and often for the Tigers, who face one of the nation’s toughest schedules. Next weekend in Baltimore, Md., Johns Hopkins University will host Princeton for the 85thiteration of one of the NCAA’s greatest rivalries, which the Baltimore side leads 55-28. The No. 9 Blue Jays will face the Tigers next Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.