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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Host Le Moyne In First Round Of NCAA Tournament
May 08, 2002 | Women's Lacrosse
May 8, 2002
Princeton, N.J. - After finishing the season with a school-record 15 straight wins and an Ivy League title, the Princeton Tigers begin their quest for a national championship with round one of the 2002 NCAA tournament this Thursday, May 9. Princeton will face Le Moyne at Class of 1952 Stadium, where the Tigers have won their last eight contests.
Princeton enters as the No. 2 seed despite its No. 1 ranking in the IWLCA Poll. The Tigers held the top spot in the national polls for five straight weeks, but in head-to-head competition, they dropped a 15-13 overtime loss to No. 2 Georgetown back on March 3. The Hoyas enter the NCAA tournament with the top seed, North Carolina is a three seed and Cornell was given the fourth seed.
Le Moyne enters the tournament with the MAAC's automatic bid. The Dolphins are on a five-game winning streak themselves and have a 10-7 overall record. Le Moyne won the conference tournament with a14-12 overtime win over Fairfield in the MAAC championship game. The Dolphins and Tigers have never met before and Thursday's meeting has an NCAA Quarterfinal berth on the line. Princeton finished the year at 15-1 overall and ended the Ivy season with a perfect 7-0 mark. The Tigers advanced the NCAA championship in each of its previous two undefeated Ivy seasons, winning the title in 1994 and falling to Maryland in 1996.
Like the 1994 national championship season, this year's Tigers are tearing through the record books. Princeton is in the midst of a school-record 15 consecutive wins, it is one win shy of matching the most wins in a season (16), four goals away from tying the most goals ever scored in a season (231) and 21 points away from tying the most points ever scored in a season (344).
"We're a really confident team right now," says senior co-captain Lauren Simone. "I'm not looking past any of the teams in the field, but I think that this may be our year to win it all."
Confident is what Princeton should be after dominating opponents all year. The Tigers scored more than double their opponents' goal total with 227 goals compared to 113 from the opposition. Princeton scored 127 goals in only the first half of games this season.
Both the Tigers and Dolphins are undefeated when leading at halftime. Princeton is 13-0 when up at the break and has not trailed at the end of regulation. Le Moyne is 7-0 when leading at the half.
Princeton and Le Moyne have no common opponents on this season's schedule. The Tigers played six of the other nine teams ranked in the nation's top-10 and have played eight of the other 15 teams in this year's NCAA field. They have a 5-1 record against top-10 teams and a 7-1 record against NCAA tournament teams. The Tigers are 15-10 all-time in NCAA tournament games and have reached the Final Four eight times. Thursday's game marks the 12th tournament appearance for Princeton.
Game time is 3 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the game at the Class of 1952 Stadium ticket window. Admission is 4 dollars for adults and 2 dollars for students.
Princeton-Le Moyne game notes in PDF Format
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