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Princeton University Athletics
Sweet Success
May 20, 2000 | Women's Lacrosse
May 19, 2000
EWING, N.J - Sophomore Kim Smith (Baltimore, Md.) scored five goals as the women's lacrosse team defeated James Madison 15-9 in the NCAA semifinal on Friday night at the College of New Jersey. The Tigers will face five-time defending national champion Maryland in the championship game on Sunday, May 21, at 3 p.m.
Princeton is now 15-3 and will be in its fourth NCAA championship game all-time and it first since 1995. The Tigers have faced the Terrapins in two of their previous three title appearances, defeating Maryland 10-7 in 1994 to win the first women's national championship at Princeton.
Julie Shaner (Jr., Gwynedd Valley, Pa.) got the Tigers on the board with her 27th goal of the season with only 1:01 expired in the game. Smith gave Princeton the 2-0 lead when she beat her defender for her first of five goals on the day with 2:29 gone in the half. With the Tigers leading 2-1, Smith drew a foul on the far sideline. Brooke Owens (So., Paoli, Pa.) took the pass off the reset and went three-quarters of the field and straight to net, scoring her first goal of the season. Smith followed that with another goal less than a minute later for a 4-1 Princeton lead. Both teams tallied three goals over the next 18 minutes, including goals by Shaner and Mimi Hammerberg (So., Denver, Colo.), and the Tigers led 7-4 at halftime.
Five minutes after intermission Whitney Miller (Fr., Bishopville, Md.) took the ball on the left side and field and cut across the goal face and put home her 20th goal of the season. After a James Madison goal by Michelle Zurfluh, the Tigers reeled off four unanswered goals, including free position scores from Smith and Shaner. Princeton goalie Laura Field (Sr., Mystic, Conn.) made a save on a James Madison free position shot and sophomore Jess Nelson (East Northport, N.Y.) came up the the ball. A long pass to Charlotte Kenworthy (So., Frazier, Pa.) gave the Tigers a three on two in transition. Lauren Simone (So., Delran, N.J.) took the pass from Kenworthy and hit Miller for her second goal of the game. The Dukes started to rally, scoring three goals in a three minute span to draw within four at 12-8 with less than 10 minutes to play, forcing Princeton head coach Chris Sailer to call time out.
The Tigers responded with added defensive pressure and patience on offense. Smith scored back-to-back goals for a 14-8 lead with 1:32 left to play. Julie Martinez tallied goal No. 9 for James Madison with 25 ticks on the clock. Determined to end the game on a high note, Simone took the draw and went straight to goal, scoring her second goal of the game with 16 second remaining and giving the Tigers a 15-9 victory.
Smith led all scorers with five goals, while Shaner added three goals and one assist. Simone scored two goals and added two assists. Hammerberg and Miller each scored two goals, while Owens scored once. Field turned away 12 shots for her 15th win of the season.
The championship game against Maryland will begin at approximately 3:10 p.m. on Sunday, and it will be televised live on Comcast Cable Network.
No. 2 Princeton 15, No. 3 James Madison 9
1 2 F James Madison (13-5) 4 5 --- 9 Princeton (15-3, 6-1 Ivy) 7 8 --- 15
Scoring - First Half PU-JMU PU - Julie Shaner, 1:01 1-0 PU - Kim Smith, 2:29 2-0 JMU - Jess Marion, 3:35 2-1 PU - Brooke Owens, 9:41 3-1 PU - Kim Smith, 10:39 4-1 JMU - Jess Marion, 16:42 4-2 PU - Lauren Simone, 17:42 5-2 JMU - Amy Brew (free position), 19:12 5-3 PU - Mimi Hammerberg (Simone), 20:21 6-3 PU - Shaner, 22:55 7-3 JMU - Julie Weiss (McNevin Molloy), 28:57 7-4
Scoring - Second Half PU-DU PU - Whitney Miller, 35:02 8-4 JMU - Michelle Zurfluh (Mindy Leher), 37:18 8-5 PU - Hammerberg (Shaner), 39:29 9-5 PU - Smith (free position), 40:58 10-5 PU - Shaner (free position), 41:41 11-5 PU - Miller (Simone), 46:39 12-5 JMU - Kristen Dinisio, 47:20 12-6 JMU- Charlotte Graham (free position), 48:34 12-7 JMU - Julie Martinez (Marion), 50:09 12-8 PU - Smith, 52:51 13-8 PU - Smith, 58:28 14-8 JMU - Martinez (Dinisio), 59:35 14-9 PU - Simone, 59:44 15-9
Shots: James Madison 21, Princeton 30 Goalie Saves: Jennifer Corradini (James Madison) 9 (60 min., 15 GA) Laura Field (Princeton) 12 (60 min., 9 GA) Free-Position Opportunities: Princeton 3 x 4, James Madison 1 x 6 Ground Balls: James Madison 19, Princeton 25 Caused Turnovers: James Madison 2, Princeton 3 Turnovers: James Madison 16, Princeton 11 Draw Controls: Princeton 14 x 26, James Madison 12 x 26 Fouls: James Madison 16, Princeton 15
James Madison Scoring: Goals - Zurfluh 2, Marion 2, Martinez 2, Brew, Dinisio, Weiss Assists - Leher, Molloy, Marion, Dinisio
Princeton Scoring: Goals -- Smith 5, Shaner 3, Simone 2, Miller 2, Hammerberg 2, Owens Assists - Simone 2, Shaner