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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
No. 9 Loyola
Players Mentioned
Slifer Scores Career-High Five Goals in 10-8 Win Over No. 9 Loyola
February 21, 2015 | Women's Lacrosse
BOX SCORE
PRINCETON, N.J. (2/21/15) - No. 15 Princeton weathered the storm to earn a 10-8 win over No. 9 Loyola on opening day of the women's lacrosse season.
Senior Erin Slifer led the charge with a career-high five goals for a six-point afternoon. Junior Stephanie Paloscio, and senior Erin McMunn both scored twice and sophomore Olivia Hompe tallied two assists. Sophomore Ellie DeGarmo earned the win in goal making three stops in the final 18 minutes, coming in on relief for senior Annie Woehling, who made three saves in the first 42.
Strong draw control by Princeton, a 16-4 edge, led to quality possession time and would be a deciding factor in the game as the Tigers won the final four draws.
Princeton outshot Loyola, 25-21 and had a big upperhand in the first half, 17-8.
A 6-3 Princeton lead at halftime was quickly erased as Loyola rattled off four straight goals to take its first lead since the first goal of the game, 7-6, at 17:39.
At this point DeGarmo replaced Woehling in net went to work on the other end as Slifer tied the game at 7-7 with her fourth goal of the day. DeGarmo's first test came on a free-position attempt from a decent hash mark on the arc. She made a great stop, tracking her player the entire way.
An Annie Thomas goal at 13:23 regained the lead for the Greyhounds, but it would be their final tally of the afternoon.
Princeton quickly answered back off the next draw in a sprint to the goal, as Paloscio scored on a feed from freshman Hayley Giraldi – her first career point.
Slifer's fifth goal at 11:10 to break the stalemate and give her team a 9-8 lead, was followed up with a long Princeton possession. During this point the players started to slip on the turf as the snow that had started at the end of the first half began to stick to the field.
Anna Doherty got a free-position attempt but elected not to shoot to continue in what was a nearly five-minute possession. McMunn ended the possession with her second goal for the afternoon and her 176th career point. That ties her with Kim Smith '02 on the all-time scoring list.
The Tigers won the next draw and while Loyola started to sense the game slipping away and applied some stiff defense that resulted in two players, Taryn Van Thof and Sydney Thomas, getting yellow cards. With a two-player advantage Princeton elected to hang on to the ball and the 10-8 victory.
Princeton dominated much of the first half, after Loyola grabbed a 1-0 lead on a free-position goal to open the game. Four different layers gave Princeton a 4-1 lead - as Anya Gersoff hit Paloscio for the team's first goal, freshman Camille Sullivan scored her first career goal, Slifer's first goal and a Slifer to McMunn goal.
VanThof scored twice within 1:06, ending her team's drought at 5:09 and after Slifer made it 5-2 on the opposite end, VanThof answered for the 5-3 score. After a Princeton timeout, Slifer had the final say with her third goal at 2:29 with Doherty assisting.
Loyola won the ensuing draw but Woehling made a big save on the quick run from the circle and made another stop in the waning seconds to give her team a 6-3 lead at the half.
Princeton will meet Drexel for the first time in program history on Wednesday night, Feb. 25, at Class of 52 Stadium.