Tigers face Virginia in NCAA lacrosse opener
By: Justin Feil
The Princeton University women’s lacrosse team will have no better test of how far it has come than its first round NCAA Tournament game.
The Tigers will play at No. 2 Virginia 1 p.m. Sunday. The Cavaliers are the team that handed them their worst defeat of the season, 16-3, back on March 25. It was the Cavaliers’ third-straight win over Princeton. To add injury to insult, the Tigers also lost then-leading scorer Kristin Schwab. Since then, however, the Tigers have won eight of their last nine and the March 25 debacle seems far behind them.
"We can compete better in every aspect," said Tigers head coach Chris Sailer whose team is 11-5. "We’re an entirely different team than when we played Virginia the first time. We got off to bad start and it snowballed from there. Virginia is clearly one of the top teams. They have a great offense and they have top speed. We can compete with them. They’ll see a different team.
"The first time around, we hardly had the ball. We have to have more draw controls, be more patient on attack and clearly more solid in the defensive end. We’re excited for the opportunity to play them again knowing how poorly we played them the first time around. It’s a chance to prove ourselves against a good opponent."
Princeton and Virginia met in the NCAA title game in 2003 and 2004. The 2003 championship was the last time the Tigers defeated Virginia. The Tigers are hoping to continue a streak that has seen them reach the quarterfinal round in its last 15 NCAA Tournament appearances.
"Generally Princeton teams, we usually tend to peak at around the right time," Sailer said. "That’s been happening to us at the end of the season. We’ve played our best lacrosse the last three games. That’s a positive for us.
"We clearly have our work cut out for us drawing the No. 2 seed in the first round. We’ll have to play our best game. If we do, we have a chance to win. We’re going to have to execute. If we play a great game have a chance to win."
In that three-game stretch, the Tigers have finally been able to keep the same starting lineup on attack. That’s helped build some continuity on offense. The Tigers’ biggest positive coming in is how they closed the regular season with a 9-8 win over Maryland. Now, they’re hoping to beat another ACC powerhouse.
Princeton is led by Kathleen Miller and Katie Lewis-Lamonica, who have 34 and 33 points respectively. Lauren Vance keys the defense with Colleen O’Boyle at goalie. The winner of the Virginia-Princeton game plays the winner of Dartmouth-Boston University winner in the quarterfinals.

