.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Georgetown
Players Mentioned
Women's Lacrosse Wins Thriller Over Georgetown, 12-11, In Regular Season Finale
May 06, 2007 | Women's Lacrosse
Whether or not the Princeton women's lacrosse team makes the NCAA tournament is out of the Tigers' hands. But after a thrilling 12-11 win over Georgetown in the regular-season finale Sunday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium, the Tigers certainly look like a tournament team.
Despite losing a 7-3 first-half lead and falling behind midway through the second half, No. 11 Princeton (10-6) got huge late goals from Kristin Schwab and Kathleen Miller to take a 12-10 lead and held off a final Georgetown (10-8) charge in the final seconds for the 12-11 win, their sixth in their last eight games.
The No. 8 Hoyas' final chance came after Megan Bloomer won the draw control with 17 seconds left, but her pass for Patty Piotrowicz was off the mark, and the Tigers ran out the final seven seconds for the one-goal win.
Princeton took the lead for good with 6:54 left, when Schwab finished off an eight-meter chance after being fouled. The Tigers then gained possession in the final three minutes and, after stalling away much of the time, took a two-goal lead with 57 seconds left on Miller's fourth goal of the game.
Georgetown would tie the game with 19 seconds left when Schuyler Sutton scored after a restart from behind the net, and the Hoyas would then call a timeout before the game-ending play.
"I hope we make the tournament, because I think we're really developing something good right now as a team," said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer. "But the decision is out of our hands."
NCAA tournament selections will be announced at 8 p.m. ET Monday night in a webcast at ncaasports.com, and the Tigers will certainly feel better about their chances when they gather to watch the selections thanks to Sunday's win.
"I think we all realized that this could be not only our last game here but also the end of the season completely," said Miller, who was one of six Princeton seniors honored in a pregame ceremony. "There was a lot of emotion for all of us, and I think we came out quickly and made a statement."
Princeton did indeed start quickly, getting goals from Schwab and senior Alex Gangler in a 34-second span to take a 2-0 lead before two minutes were gone in the game. Even after Georgetown cut its deficit to 4-3 when Brittany Baschuk scored with 18:35 left in the half, the Tigers took control again, getting a goal from Ashley Amo and scores in a two-minute span from Miller and Katie Lewis-Lamonica to make it 7-3 with 6:34 left in the half.
But the Tigers would score just once in the next 23 minutes, and Georgetown scored four straight goals in a nine-minute span midway through the second half to take its only lead of the game, 9-8, on a Sutton free-position shot with 15 minutes to go.
Lewis-Lamonica, who also had four goals, would turn the tide back to Princeton after that. She scored similar one-on-one driving goals in a five-minute span, first tying the game at 9-9 and then giving her team the lead at 10-9 with nine minutes left. Georgetown's Coco Stanwick would score with 7:29 left to tie the game at 10.
Princeton got a huge effort in goal from freshman Kaitlyn Perrelle, who had a season-high 10 saves, including three on Georgetown eight-meter opportunities. Perrelle's effort offset a big advantage in draw controls for the Hoyas, who won 18 of the 24 draws in the game.
"Kait made some big stops for us in key situations," said Sailer. "I think she's just one of the players who've really stepped up their play for us in the last few weeks."
Another one of those players is Miller, whose five points (four goals, one assist) tied her for fourth place all-time at Princeton in scoring with 205 points, equalling the mark of Lauren Simone '02. The senior now has 137 goals and 68 assists in her Princeton career.
In addition to Miller and Gangler, who earned her first start of the season, Princeton also honored captains Colleen O'Boyle and Caitlin Reimers as well as starting defender Christine Dobrosky and attacker Mary Minshall on Senior Day. The Tiger seniors have now won 54 of 72 games in four seasons.
Stanwick scored three times for Georgetown, which has won just once in seven attempts against the Tigers in Princeton. 10 of the 13 games between the teams over the past 11 seasons have been decided by two goals or fewer.