Princeton University
Brown
Women's Lacrosse Wins Outright Ivy League Title
April 27, 2002 | Women's Lacrosse
April 27, 2002
Providence, R.I. - Princeton captured its sixth Ivy League championship and first outright title since 1996 with a 10-6 victory over the Brown Bears in Providence, R.I. on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers, the top-ranked team in the nation, win for the 15th straight time, breaking a school record for longest winning streak in program history and finish the year at 15-1 overall and 7-0 in the Ivies.
Freshman Lindsey Biles opened the scoring with her 25th goal of the year, taking a pass from junior Rachael Becker at 3:11. Brown tied up the score when Laurel Pierpont scored a little over a minute later. Princeton's offensive leader, senior Lauren Simone then gave the Tigers a lead they would not relinquish with her team-high 40th goal of the season. The Tigers went on a 3-0 run to extend the lead to 4-1, but the Bears would not go away on this, their final game of year at Stevenson Field. Brown scored back-to-back goals to draw within one point of the Tigers. With Princeton up 4-3, Senior Mimi Hammerberg found sophomore Mary Beth Hogan from behind the net and Hogan did the rest, beating Brown goalie Niki Caggiano for her first goal of the season. Senior Charlotte Kenworthy followed with a goal at 26:45 and Princeton was once again up by three goals, leading 6-3.
The persistent Bears would not go away quietly and with two unanswered goals before the half, the score at intermission had Princeton leading 6-5. The Tigers stuck early in the second half with senior Kim Smith scoring her first of two goals on the day. In all, Princeton scored the first four goals of the second half and led 10-5 before Brown's final goal of the day with about two minutes left in regulation.
Both Biles and Smith finished with two goals for Princeton while Fiore, Hogan, Kenworthy, Miller, Pillion and Simone all scored in a balanced Tiger attack. Sarah Kolodner started in goal for Princeton and played the first half, giving up five goals and making three saves. Sophomore Megan McInnis played the second half and made five saves while giving up one goal.
Becker had another outstanding day on defense with seven caused turnovers and six ground balls. The Tigers finished with 36 ground balls and 19 caused turnovers while the Bears picked up 33 ground balls and caused 12 turnovers.
The Tigers drop Brown to 5-8 on the year and extend their winning streak against the Bears to 12 games. Princeton's undefeated Ivy season is its third ever. In each of its first two perfect Ivy seasons, Princeton has advanced to the NCAA Championships game, winning it all in 1994 and losing to Maryland in 1996.
Last season, the Tigers shared the Ivy crown with Dartmouth and fell to Maryland in the NCAA Semifinals. Princeton's Ivy championship is its first back-to-back title since the 1993-94 seasons. The Tigers won the national championship on the back end of those Ivy titles.
Princeton makes its fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance and 12th as a program. The 2002 NCAA bracket and seedings will be announced on Sunday, May 5. Princeton, which currently holds the longest winning streak in the nation, looks for its first-ever No. 1 seeding.
Shots Princeton 39 Brown 17Ground Balls Princeton 36 Brown 33
Caused Turnovers Princeton 19 Brown 12
Turnovers Princeton 15 Brown 22
Draw Controls Princeton 8 Brown 9
Fouls Princeton 22 Brown 18