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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Northwestern
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Top-Seeded Northwestern Runs By Tigers, 18-11, In NCAA Women's Lacrosse Quarterfinal
May 17, 2008 | Women's Lacrosse
Like every other Northwestern opponent during the last four years of the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship, Princeton had no answer for the top-seeded Wildcats Saturday afternoon in an NCAA quarterfinal game at Lakeside Field.
Four Northwestern players scored three times as the Wildcats defeated the No. 8 seed Tigers, 18-11, winning their 14th straight NCAA tournament game in the process and ending Princeton's season one game short of its first final four berth in four seasons.
The Tigers (13-5) trailed just 6-3 with eight minutes to go in the first half, but Northwestern (19-1), the three-time defending NCAA champions, scored five straight goals in a six-minute stretch after that to take a big lead.
"They are the kind of team that's going to make runs like that," said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer. "I thought when we had the ball on offense, we did some nice things, but we didn't have it enough."
"Even if you're able to stop one or two players they have a lot of options," said Princeton senior defender Norris Novak. "It's difficult to stop that when so many players are contributing."
Hilary Bowen, Hannah Nielsen, Katrina Dowd and Casey Donohoe all had three goals for Northwestern; Danielle Spencer and Brooke Matthews both had two. Bowen and Nielsen each had two assists as the Wildcats advanced to a national semifinal game against Syracuse Friday in Towson, Md.
Christine Casaceli, Holly McGarvie and Katie Lewis-Lamonica each had two goals for Princeton, which never got closer than six goals (11-5) in the final 27 minutes of the game. The Tigers were playing in their 11th straight NCAA tournament, the third-longest current streak in Division I.
McGarvie also had seven draw controls for Princeton, but the Wildcats were in control of that stat during their five-goal run late in the first half. Matthews and Nielsen took advantage of those possessions to each score unassisted goals in a 1:14 span to make it 8-3, and Donohoe then had two goals in a 40-second span in the final three minutes to make it 10-3. Ashley Amo's goal from the left side of the crease one second before halftime finally ended NU's run, but the Wildcats took an 11-4 lead into the half.
McGarvie would score on an eight-meter shot 2:15 into the second half to make it 11-5 and briefly give the Tigers life, but Northwestern again scored five straight, forcing the running clock that comes with a 10-goal lead with 16:54 left when Ali Jacobs scored.
Princeton scored five of the game's final six goals, including a pair by senior Katie Lewis-Lamonica, who played despite a torn ACL suffered just more than a month ago. Lewis-Lamonica finished her career with 139 goals, tied for seventh all-time at Princeton, despite missing the final seven games of the regular season in 2008.
"We dealt with a lot of adversity near the end of the season with the injuries we had," said Sailer. "I think our senior class did a great job of keeping us together and helping us fight through those things even if we didn't reach our goal of getting to the final four."
Northwestern, which has won 81 of its last 84 games overall, scored on 18 of its 28 shots on the day. Princeton goalie Erin Tochihara had seven saves, including several spectacular ones early in the game, before being replaced by Kaitlyn Perrelle midway through the second half.
"Erin made some nice saves early on but we couldn't take advantage of them," said Sailer. "We had too many turnovers and gave them too much possession time especially in the first half."
Tochihara made three saves on point-blank opportunities in the first three minutes of the game, but the Tigers had turnovers on all three clearing attempts and after winning the draw control following Northwestern's first goal 2:37 into the game.
Princeton did score on three of its four free-position opportunities, taking advantage of 26 Northwestern fouls in the game. Kristin Morrison, Lizzy Drumm, Kristin Schwab and Anne Murray also scored for the Tigers.