Following a 10-day break and two tough top-10 losses to No. 5 Stony Brook and No. 6 Loyola Maryland, the No. 12 Tigers women’s lacrosse team (7–2, 2–0 Ivy) crushed Brown 18–6 (5–5, 2–2 Ivy) in an impressive Ivy League road win on Saturday.
“We took advantage of this long stretch of practice days to refine our offensive and defensive sets,” sophomore attacker Grace Tauckus told The Daily Princetonian.
Tauckus’s comments reflect a dominant team performance from the Tigers, who saw nine different players score at least one goal. Princeton came out on fire to start the game with a 7–0 lead in the first quarter. Tauckus and junior midfielder Maria Pansini each provided two of these early goals while three other Tigers scored one goal each.
Brown made a bit of a run in the second quarter when they scored two unanswered goals to start the period. But the Tigers kept their feet on the gas pedal all game and didn’t let the Bears get any closer. Senior attacker Kyla Sears took off, scoring three goals to help Princeton go into halftime with a 10–2 lead. Sears would ultimately score seven goals in the game — a new career high and No. 3 all-time for total goals by a single player in one game in Princeton history. With this seven-goal outburst, Sears now has 250 career points. This puts her at No. 3 all-time in Princeton lacrosse history.
The Tigers’ defense was as impressive as their offensive explosion, as they did not allow Brown to take a shot on goal until the second quarter. And when the Bears finally found offensive opportunities, senior goalkeeper Sam Fish was there to protect the goal. By the end of the game, Fish had made 14 saves. The six goals given up to Brown were the fewest goals allowed in one game by the Tigers this season.
“We’re looking to keep this momentum going into the thick of our Ivy League schedule. A goal of ours is to go undefeated in Ivy play while also going on to win the Ivy League tournament,“ Tauckus said. “Bringing game-like intensity to every practice and continuing to raise the bar has contributed to our success, and we aim to keep this going throughout our regular season and into the postseason.”
Five of the Tigers’ six remaining games are against Ivy League opponents. At their next game, Princeton will have the home field advantage against No. 9 Maryland on Wednesday, April 13 on Sherrerd Field.
Akshay Swani is a contributor to the Sports and News sections at the 'Prince.' He can be reached at ns9735@princeton.edu.
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