Win over Vanderbilt propels Tigers to quarterfinals
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Fittingly, Princeton University sent out Marine Graham to sing the national anthem before its NCAA tournament opener against Vanderbilt on Sunday.
Graham sang beautifully while wearing a heavy knee brace, just days removed from surgery to repair her torn ACL. Graham isn’t able to be back on the field, but slowly the Tigers are returning to full strength.
After a 10-0 start to the season, Princeton limped into the postseason with losses in four of its last six regular-season games.
”Obviously, we’ve had our challenges this year,” said PU head coach Chris Sailer. “This team in the beginning of the year, in the first half of the season, the teamwork and chemistry on the field, it was awesome and it came pretty easy to us because we were so used to playing with each other. There was such great flow on this team. And then we had this series of injuries and moving people around and getting different people in and maybe wondering are we still as good as we were earlier. It’s been more of a struggle for us.
”When their teammates went down, it wasn’t just missing kids off the field. It was the pain they felt for each other. It took us a while to adapt to that and adjust to that. You see different people stepping up.”
The Tigers have come through the worst of the injuries, though there seem to be scares at every turn. Princeton nearly lost unanimous All-Ivy selection Holly McGarvie in the regular-season finale at Georgetown.
”When I went down, with a few ACL tears we’ve had, I thought immediately I might have blown out my knee,” the PU junior said. “It was good to hear that it wasn’t like that and my team backed me up. I had to do some strengthening and my trainer worked with me at the beginning of the week and I was able to strengthen my leg.”
McGarvie was everywhere on the field with five ground balls, two caused turnovers and two goals and an assist in the Tigers’ 14-10 win over Vanderbilt on Sunday.
”She just gives everything she has every second,” Sailer said. “By strength of will, she propels our team. They see her make those plays and you can’t help but give a lot yourself. She’s been tremendous all over the field. She was an inspiration out there today, especially with her injury.”
With the win, the Tigers buy another week to lick their wounds. No. 8 Princeton advances to play at top-seeded Northwestern on Saturday.
”We’ve had to fight, and I think that’s going to help us down the stretch,” said Sailer, who is one NCAA win away from tying for the all-time lead. “Having a big win against a quality team, a Top 10 team, is going to do a lot for our confidence going into our quarterfinal game. I think it definitely shows the character of the team.”
Princeton returned one of its walking wounded Sunday. Katie Lewis-Lamonica returned from a seven-game absence due to an ACL injury. The Lawrenceville School product scored to open Princeton’s largest lead of the first half, 3-1. She looked remarkably well on the play as she raced around her defender from the right side and shot it low as she came to the front of the goal.
Her ensuing celebration was an awkward combination of joy and what looked as though she was trying to shoot a basketball layup. And after receiving congratulations from her teammates, she immediately jogged off the field. She took the brace off and stretched on the sidelines. She did not return until the second half, when she played the first 13 minutes.
”I think for all of us it was so awesome to hear her name called in the starting lineup,” Sailer said. “And to see her score that goal and when she leapt up like that, it was like, what are you doing? The sheer joy for her to be on the field again, it makes you feel great.”
Princeton returned to form with six different players scoring the first six goals of the game. Princeton fell behind, 7-6, a minute into the second half, but fought back. Sarah Steele broke an 8-8 tie with 14:08 left. Steele finished with three goals after having three goals all season. Ashley Amo had three goals and three assists to lead the Tigers.
”We knew at halftime that this was a game we could break open if we just played like we could play,” Sailer said. “We came out much harder in the second half and were able to feed off the momentum of a couple big stops in the defensive end and then some goals in the offensive end.”
Princeton scored six of the final eight goals, including four straight after Vanderbilt threatened at 10-9 with eight minutes to play. That late run helped the Tigers continue their season.
”This year has been so special,” said Amo, who despite leading the Tigers with 50 points was not named to the All-Ivy team. “Someone said it’s been our magical season. I think it wouldn’t be so magical if we didn’t have some bumps along the way. The fact that we pulled this out, it’s been such a great season.”
The season looked in jeopardy when the Tigers stumbled to the finish. But winning appears to be a cure-all for what ails them.
”This is the point in the season where you have injuries, but you’re going to play through them,” Amo said. “You’ve got nothing left.”
Nothing but a final four berth to play for now. For the senior class, it is their final chance to reach the semifinals. Princeton has not had a graduating class miss making at least one final four appearance in their careers in 20 years.
”We’ve really had exceptional senior group leadership,” Sailer said. “These kids have done all the right things all year long. It’s nice to see it reflecting in advancing in the NCAA tournament.”