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Princeton University Athletics
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Deja Vu: Tigers To Visit Virginia For NCAA Women's Lacrosse First Round Game For Second Straight Season
May 07, 2007 | Women's Lacrosse
Princeton walked off the field at Virginia's Klockner Stadium last May celebrating a stunning 8-7 victory over the second-seeded Cavaliers in the NCAA tournament first round. On Sunday, the Tigers will get the chance to do almost the same thing all over again.
This time, Virginia is the No. 3 seed. And this time, the Tigers had to sweat out an at-large tournament selection instead of earning the Ivy League's automatic bid. Otherwise, the meeting between the Cavaliers and Tigers Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) will feature many of the same players and storylines from last year's meeting.
The Tigers (10-6), who earned their 17th tournament selection overall and 10th consecutive appearance, won six of their final eight games in 2007, a similar streak to last season when Princeton won seven of its final eight. The Cavaliers (16-3) won the ACC tournament by defeating top-five opponents Maryland and North Carolina, similar to last season when Virginia defeated North Carolina and Duke to win the conference championship.
"We're excited to get a chance to play in the tournament again," said Princeton coach Chris Sailer. "Obviously Virginia is a very familiar team to us as we are to them, and it's a great rivalry and a great chance for us to see where we are as a team."
There have been very few better games in the rivalry for Princeton than last season's NCAA first-round game, when the Tigers took a 5-2 halftime lead against the No. 2 team in the country and then got a late goal from Katie Lewis-Lamonica with 2:14 left for the 8-7 win. Lewis-Lamonica, who leads Princeton with 46 goals this season, had four goals in that game.
Just like the 2006 season, the Tigers lost to Virginia in the regular season in 2007, though March's 9-7 Virginia win at Klockner Stadium in 2007 was a close game throughout.
Princeton has a 4-3 advantage against Virginia in the NCAA tournament thanks to last season's win, and the Cavaliers lead a tight overall series 13-12. Sunday's game will be the ninth game between the teams in the last five seasons and the fourth NCAA tournament game between the teams in the last five seasons.
Both Princeton and Virginia have played 41 NCAA tournament games all-time; Princeton has won 28 of its games, while Virginia has won 25. Both the Tigers (1994, 2002, 2003) and the Cavaliers (1991, 1993, 2004) have each won three NCAA championships.
Tickets for Sunday's game are $6 for adults and $4 for youths 18-and-under and students of participating schools with a student ID. Tickets can be purchased in person at Bryant Hall ticket office or by calling the UVa Athletics Ticket Office at 800/542-8821. Tickets can also be purchased online at virginiasports.com. The Ticket Office encourages all fans to purchase and pick up their tickets in advance to avoid long ticket sales and Will Call lines on game day.
The winner of the Princeton-Virginia game will play the winner of the North Carolina-Richmond game in the quarterfinal round of the tournament on Sat., May 19. Princeton has never failed to reach the quarterfinal round of the tournament in each of its previous 16 appearances.
NCAA Tournament first round games on Sunday, May 13
No. 1 Northwestern vs Holy Cross
No. 2 Duke vs LeMoyne
No. 3 Virginia vs Princeton
No. 4 Penn vs Boston University
No. 5 Maryland vs Yale
No. 6 North Carolina vs Richmond
No. 7 Johns Hopkins vs. Hofstra
No. 8 Vanderbilt vs Syracuse