.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
James Madison
Players Mentioned
Unbeaten Tigers Roll Past James Madison, 17-10, Behind Amo's Eight Points
March 19, 2008 | Women's Lacrosse
Each member of the Princeton women's lacrosse team wears a warm-up t-shirt that has one word that best describes her on the back.
If there's one word to describe the Tigers after their 17-10 win over James Madison on a rainy Wednesday at Class of 1952 Stadium pushed them to 5-0 this season, it has to be "efficient."
The fourth-ranked Tigers scored on 10 of their 15 first-half shots, including a five-goal run in the final nine minutes of the half that turned a close game into a 10-4 halftime lead. Overall, Princeton scored on 17 of its 30 shots, including a four-goal run late in the second half that fended off a JMU challenge. At the end, Princeton had eight different goal scorers, assists on 11 of its 17 goals and an unbeaten record heading into a showdown with No. 2 Virginia Saturday afternoon.
"I think once we got used to the conditions we really started to find each other well," said senior Ashley Amo, who had a career game with four goals and four assists. "The good thing about our offense right now is that we have a lot of options, and we also know our defense is playing well."
"We've talked a lot about balance and getting our goals thanks to assists and not just one-on-one," said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer. "When we've done that, we've been successful."
Indeed, through five games, the Tigers have scored on better than 50% of their shot attempts (60 of 118). 10 Tigers have scored two or more goals, but none of those players has more than 12 goals. Amo, meanwhile, increased her assist total to 11 through five games, the same number she had for the entire season as a junior.
"We have great cutters who do a good job of getting open," said Amo, who scored on four of her five shots.
Defensively, Princeton forced James Madison (3-4) into 27 turnovers on Wednesday, helping to offset a 19-10 draw control advantage for the Dukes that looked like it might hurt the Tigers in the first half. After JMU's Lauren Bradley scored 10 minutes into the game, the score was tied at 3-3.
But the Tigers quickly scored twice after that, taking the lead for good on Kristin Schwab's goal two minutes later. Princeton then looked like it might take an 8-4 advantage into halftime, but scored twice in the final 33 seconds of the half, with Amo taking a pass from Schwab to make it 9-4 and Alison Murray then taking a pass from Amo with just eight seconds on the clock to make it 10-4.
Christine Casaceli had three goals for the Tigers, while Schwab, Katie Cox, Katie Lewis-Lamonica and Murray all had two goals. Schwab and freshman Lizzy Drumm each had two assists for Princeton, which defeated JMU for the ninth time in 10 all-time meetings.
Kim Griffin, Julie Stone, Annie Wagner and Bradley all had two goals for JMU, which has seen three of its four defeats come against Ivy League opponents. The Dukes lost one-goal decisions to both Dartmouth and Yale.
JMU took its only lead 1:27 into the game when Stone scored the game's first goal. The Dukes got within 12-8 after Stone's free-position shot midway through the second half, but Amo then rolled the crease and scored for Princeton 26 seconds later to begin a 5-2 Tiger stretch to end the game.
The Princeton-Virginia game Saturday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium (1 p.m.) will be the 10th meeting between the teams in the last six seasons. The Tigers haven't defeated the Cavaliers in the regular season since 2004.
Princeton is 5-0 for the first time since that 2004 season, when the Tigers finished a perfect 16-0 in the regular season.