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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Vanderbilt
Players Mentioned
Tigers Pull Away For 14-10 Win Over Vanderbilt In NCAA First Round
May 11, 2008 | Women's Lacrosse
All game long against Vanderbilt, the Princeton women's lacrosse team seemed poised for a big run. Thanks to the usual suspects and some unsung heroes, the Tigers made that late run to advance to yet another NCAA quarterfinal.
The No. 8 seed Tigers scored six of the last eight goals of the game to break away from an 8-8 tie midway through the second half, including four straight in the final eight minutes, to pull away from the Commodores for a 14-10 victory in an NCAA first round game at Class of 1952 Stadium. Princeton (13-4) will now play at three-time defending NCAA champion Northwestern, a 15-7 winner over Notre Dame Sunday, in a quarterfinal game on Saturday in Chicago.
The unsung hero for Princeton was junior Sarah Steele, who entered the game with three goals this season before scoring three times on Sunday, including the free-position goal that put Princeton ahead for good at 9-8 with 14 minutes left.
The usual suspects were senior Ashley Amo, who had a goal and an assist in Princeton's late four-goal run and six points (three goals, three assists) on the day, and junior Holly McGarvie, who fought through an injury suffered last week at Georgetown to score twice, including the goal that started her team's 4-0 spurt, as well as grab five ground balls.
"We felt like we could make a run at some point in the game and we were able to do so at the end," said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer, whose 28 NCAA tournament wins are now just one shy of Cindy Timchal's 29 for first place all-time in Division I. "I'm not even sure what to say about Holly and some of our other walking wounded; they do a great job gutting it out and they inspire me and their teammates."
"I think this has been a special season, and sometimes part of it being special is the adversity you have to go through," said Amo, who now has 27 goals and 23 assists this season. "I think we did a good job of taking advantage of our strengths in the second half today."
Eight players scored goals for Princeton, including four players in the late four-goal spurt. After McGarvie made it 11-9 with 7:35 left, Christine Casaceli found Amo in front of the net against a pressing Vanderbilt defense 1:17 later to make it 12-9. Princeton was then able to win the draw control and stall away more than three minutes before Kristin Schwab got past the defense and found Casaceli in front of an open net to make it 13-9 with 2:52 left. Steele's third goal with just 21 seconds left made it 14-9.
Vanderbilt (13-6) got four goals from New Jersey native Cara Giordano, while fellow Moorestown High school graduate Margie Curran had two goals and three assists. The Commodores led 5-4 after Giordano scored with 6:23 left in the first half and again 1:03 into the second half after another Giordano goal but were outscored by Princeton 8-3 in the last 25 minutes of the game.
Princeton even got a goal from senior Katie Lewis-Lamonica, who blew by her defender midway through the first half to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead and force a Vanderbilt timeout. The senior played limited minutes in his first action since suffering an ACL injury April 5 against Yale.
Neither team held more than a two-goal advantage on Sunday before Princeton's late run. There were five ties in the first half, at 1-1, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 and finally at 6-6 at halftime after Giordano scored on a nice feed from behind the net from Curran with just six seconds on the clock.
Princeton would outshoot Vanderbilt 15-7 in the second half, however, leading to a 31-17 shot advantage for the game. The Tigers also converted on four of their six free-position opportunities, including both chances in the second half.
Casaceli also had two goals and an assist for Princeton, while Schwab, Lizzy Drumm and Kristin Morrison also scored goals for the Tigers. Princeton also had an 11-4 advantage on ground balls in the second half and a 23-17 advantage for the game.
The teams were playing for just the second time; Princeton had defeated Vanderbilt 11-3 in the national semifinals four seasons ago across the street at Princeton Stadium. Princeton has now advanced to at least the quarterfinal round in 17 of its 18 NCAA tournament appearances.
Princeton and Northwestern also played in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2005 in Evanston; the Tigers were also the No. 8 seed that season, whlle the Wildcats were also the top seed three years ago. The Wildcats won that game by an 8-6 score and won their first of three straight NCAA titles the following weekend.