Princeton Faces Penn State in Midweek Top-15 Matchup

No. 8 Penn State at No. 14 Princeton l Wednesday, Feb. 27 l 5 PM I Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium
ESPN+ l Live Stats l @PrincetonWLAX

Here's the long and the short of it for the Princeton women's lacrosse team this week: The long bus ride back was followed by a short turnaround to another highly ranked opponent.

Princeton fell to Virginia 14-9 Saturday in Charlottesville, and other than a six or so hour ride back, the Tigers had no time to dwell on that setback, not with eighth-ranked Penn State on the horizon.

Just four days after the UVa game, Princeton will be hosting another annual – and very strong – opponent. Penn State comes to Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium unbeaten on the young season at 3-0, most recently having defeated Cornell 12-10 Saturday at home.

Princeton vs. Penn State - Five Storylines

Midweek Madness
Princeton is playing the first of its six midweek games, with four on Wednesdays and two on Tuesdays. Princeton plays one midweek game in February (this one) and then two in March (at Florida on the 19th and at Maryland on the 27th) and three in April (home with Villanova on the 2nd, home against Loyola on the 10th, at Penn on the 17th).

By the way, five of those six teams are ranked in the top 13 of this week's IWLCA poll.

Series History
Princeton and Penn State first met in the 1982 season and have met once or twice every year since, with the exception of the 2010 season. This will be the 41st meeting in the series, and Princeton has a 24-16 edge to date.

Princeton and Penn State have played five NCAA tournament games, and Princeton is 3-2 in those five.

Last year's game saw the Tigers fall behind by five in the first half before rallying for a 13-12 win in State College behind three goals each from Kyla Sears and Elizabeth George. Sam Fish came off the bench to make 11 saves while allowing six goals in 42:48 for the win.

Feeding Frenzy
Princeton has scored 25 goals through 10 games and has assists on 10 of those, or 40 percent. A year ago, Princeton assisted on 34.9 percent of its 278 goals.

Penn State has 42 goals in three games, with 24 assists on those 42 goals, or 57.1 percent. In the game last year at Penn State, the Nittany Lions had just one assist on 12 goals.

Tess and Kathryn
Tess D'Orsi and Kathryn Hallett combined for 71 goals a year ago, but none of those came in the win over Penn State.

Through two games this year, the two have combined for 14 goals (eight for D'Orsi and six for Hallett), which puts them on a pace for 105 for the 15-game regular season.

Those 14 goals have come on 19 total shots for the two. Hallett, particularly, has shot with great efficiency, with six goals on … six shots.

Aw, Shoot
Princeton ranks 50 spots ahead of Penn State in shooting percentage in Division I. The Tigers are shooting 25 for 53, or .472, which is 23rd in the country, as compared to Penn State, who shoots .385 as a team and ranks 73rd in the country.

Princeton in the young season has improved its team shooting percentage significantly from a year ago, when the number was .427.

On the other hand, Penn State is averaging 36.3 shots per game, while Princeton is averaging about 10 shots per game fewer, at 26.5. The reason? Turnovers. Penn State turns it over 9.5 fewer times per game than Princeton, and the result is all those extra shots.

This stat is a little skewed because Princeton has only played two games, including one in the rain against UVa in which it turned it over 27 times. A year ago, Princeton averaged 14.6 turnovers per game. The math is obvious: Should Princeton cut down on turnovers and continue to shoot at a high percentage, then the scoring offense numbers will go up from the 12.5 per game through two games.

Other Notes

* Penn State allows eight goals per game. Princeton has been held to eight goals or fewer only twice in its last 40 games (last year against Loyola, 2017 against Penn State).

* Both teams have done well on draws, with Princeton at a .560 percentage and Penn State at .535.

* Elizabeth George leads the team in assists (four) and draw controls (12) through two games. She also has three goals, leaving her second on the team with seven points.

* Allie Rogers, Nonie Andersen and Alex Argo are tied for the team lead with four caused turnovers each.

* Princeton has had nine players score at least one goal through two games.

* Princeton opens its Ivy League season Saturday at home (3) against Columbia in the second game of a Sherrerd Field doubleheader that begins when the men host Johns Hopkins at noon.

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