Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
North Carolina
Tigers Claw Tarheels In National Semifinal
May 17, 2002 | Women's Lacrosse
May 17, 2002
Baltimore, Md. - Sophomore Theresa Sherry scored five times to lead a potent Tiger offense that rolled to a 16-2 win over the third-seeded North Carolina Tarheels in the national semifinal on Friday night in Baltimore, Md. Princeton used five players to score its first six goals and built an early 8-0 lead to smother an irresolute Tarheel attack and advance to the NCAA championship game on Sunday.
Princeton got on the board early with Sherry scoring only 1:23 into the contest. The Tiger co-captains, seniors Charlotte Kenworthy and Lauren Simone connected when Simone fed Kenworthy in front of the net and Princeton led 2-0 only 5:19 into the game. Junior Whitney Miller got into the scoring action with an unassisted goal of her own and Princeton was rolling with less than 10 minutes off the clock. After goals by freshman Lindsey Biles and senior Kim Smith, freshman Elizabeth Pillion became the sixth Tiger to reach the scoring column and Princeton led 8-0 at 23:28. UNC finally answered with an unassisted goal by Lindsey Stone and at the half, the scoreboard read 8-1.
Princeton opened the second half much the same way it did the first half. Sherry scored off a free position 1:10 into the period to give the Tigers a 9-1 advantage. North Carolina made it 9-2 with its second goal of the night, but the Tigers answered with back-to-back goals only 13 seconds apart to push the lead back to nine points.
Simone and Miller scored on consecutive free position shots and after Sherry scored her fifth goal off of Simone's fourth assist, mother nature got into the mix. Lightning suspended play for 55 minutes with 13:37 left to play in regulation.
After the delay, Princeton once again came out sharp scoring immediately with the co-captains Kenworthy and Simone connecting on Kenworthy's third goal of the night. Miller scored to seal the scoring as the Tigers held North Carolina to a Final Four record two goals.
The Tigers make their fifth appearance in the NCAA title game this Sunday, May 19. They face the top-seeded Georgetown Hoyas in a 1 p.m. contest at Curley Field. Georgetown is the only team to defeat Princeton this season and they enter Sunday's showdown with a 17-1 overall record after defeating Cornell in tonight's first Semifinal game.
Princeton opened the season with a 15-13 overtime loss to Georgetown, but have since rattled off a school-record 18 straight wins and stand at 18-1 overall. The Tigers won the outright Ivy League title with a perfect 7-0 conference mark and continued a trend that has Princeton in the NCAA championship game each time it finishes the Ivy League season undefeated.
In both 1994 and 1996 the Tigers finished the year with a perfect Ivy record and advanced to the championship game in those respective seasons. The 1994 squad won Princeton's lone national championship and the 1996 team fell to Maryland in the final. In fact, the Terrapins have won each of the last seven national titles since Princeton wore the crown in 1994.
This Sunday's game pits the top two seeds and top two ranked teams in the national polls against one another. Georgetown earned the tournament's top seed, but Princeton finished the year as the No. 1 team in the IWLCA poll. Polls and seedings set aside, Sunday's match-up will determine this season's best team once and for all.
Final ScorePrinceton 16 North Carolina 2
Princeton Goals (goals-assists) Sherry 5-1, Miller 4-0, Kenworthy 3-0, Simone 1-5, Biles 1-0, Pillion 1-0, Smith 1-0
North Carolina Goals (goals-assists) Lindsey Stone 1-0, Brooke Young 1-0
Goalies Princeton: Sarah Kolodner 49 minutes, 6 saves, 2 goals-against Meghan McInnes 11 minutes, 2 saves, 0 goals-againts
Georgetown: Katelyn Hoffman 60 minutes, 8 saves, 16 goals-against
Scoring 1:23 Sherry (unassisted) Prin, 1-0 5:19 Kenworthy (Simone) Prin, 2-0 9:46 Miller (unassisted) Prin, 3-0 10:29 Sherry (unassisted) Prin, 4-0 12:27 Biles (Simone) Prin, 5-0 15:43 Smith (unasssited) Prin, 6-0 23:11 Kenworthy (FP) Prin, 7-0 23:28 Pillion (unassisted) Prin, 8-0 27:16 Stone (unassisted) Prin, 8-1 36:10 Sherry (FP) Prin, 9-1 37:33 Young (unassisted) Prin, 9-2 38:22 Sherry (Simone) Prin, 10-2 38:35 Miller (Sherry) Prin, 11-2 41:19 Simone (FP) Prin, 12-2 42:47 Miller (FP) Prin, 13-2 46:13 Sherry (Simone) Prin, 14-2 46:30 Kenworthy (Simone) Prin, 15-2 47:58 Miller (unassisted) Prin, 16-2