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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Columbia
Players Mentioned
No. 13 Women's Lacrosse Clinches Share of Ivy Title with 12-6 Win Over Columbia
April 18, 2015 | Women's Lacrosse
Box Score
PRINCETON, N.J. (4/18/15) – The Princeton women's lacrosse team has clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title and will host the Ivy League Tournament after a 12-6 win over Columbia this afternoon on Sherrred Field at Class of 1952 Stadium.
Despite the win and knowing that the postseason will be played in Princeton, the No. 13 ranked Tigers were not satisfied with today's effort.
“Today we did something they've done 11 times at Princeton, which is clinch a share of the Ivy League championship.” Princeton head coach Chris Sailer said. “"It's a great achievement for this program and I'm so proud of our players who have worked hard all year long to have the chance to repeat as conference champs and bring the Ivy Tournament back to Princeton. As huge as it was to get this win today, you didn't see the kids celebrate. You didn't see a lot of happy faces. We know we didn't play the way we need to play, and we know that more is expected of us, and we have to continually put our best on the field.”
Princeton held a 5-1 lead at halftime, with Erin Slifer and Olivia Hompe scoring twice and Erika Grabbi tallying one. Kelsey Gedin held the Tigers to just five goals, making six first-half saves for the Lions.
Columbia wasn't intimidated at all by Princeton's undefeated Ivy League record, coming into the second half on a 5-1 run to tie the game, 6-6 at 17:25.
The Tigers called a timeout to regroup and did more than just that, as they rattled off the last six goals of the game.
Hompe regained the lead at 15:53 as she converted on an eight-meter attempt. Anna Doherty did more than score the next goal as she caused a turnover in the defensive end and then buried an Erika Grabbi feed on the quick restart. Hompe pushed Princeton's lead to 9-6 with her fourth goal of the game and team-leading 37th goal of the season at 8:26.
The Tigers solidified the win with three goals in the final minute. Erin McMunn scored on an Anya Gersoff pass at 55.4, Doherty won the next draw and with a head of steam ran to the net to score at 43.7 and Slifer scored her fourth tally of the day on a pass from junior Stephanie Paloscio at 23.8.
“We knew Columbia was going to come out and play us hard, and had the opportunity to upset and I think they really did,” junior defender Liz Bannantine said. “They gave it their all, and hats off to them. We made some pretty big plays in the end to pull it out. We definitely came back in the second half. Draw controls, we pretty much controlled more than 50 percent, and that's a huge part of our game and something we focus on every time.”
Princeton won nearly every statistical categories, with a huge edge in shots, 34-12. Draws fell 15-5 in Princeton's favor, as did ground balls, 14-6. The Tigers also caused 10 turnovers, while Columbia forced just one.
In addition to a four-goal game, Hompe had four draw controls, a ground ball and a caused turnover. Slifer added two ground balls, two draws and one caused turnover to her four-goal total. Doherty scored twice and had a team-best four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Sophomore Ellie DeGarmo earned the win in goal made one save in the first half, and allowing two. Senior Annie Woehling played the first 10:27 of the second half and allowed four, before DeGarmo retook her place in between the pipes.
Caroline Joy and Quinn Taylor each tallied two goals for Columbia, with both of Taylor's coming by-way-of the free-position attempts. Gedin finished the game with 10 saves, making four more in the second half.
Princeton hosts Brown in the final game of the regular season next Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m.