Princeton Strikes Quickly, Runs Past No. 8 Penn State 21-10

Wednesday, February 27

Princeton, N.J.

5:00 PM

Princeton University

2-1

Penn State

3-1

Penn State

Princeton

Elizabeth George celebrates one of her five goals in Princeton's 21-10 win over Penn State.

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Princeton Strikes Quickly, Runs Past No. 8 Penn State 21-10

February 27, 2019 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

There are some five-goal runs that sting and there are some five-goal runs that can give you a warm feeling on a cold evening.

Just four days after being done in by giving up five straight goals in the final nine minutes in a loss at Virginia, the 14^th-ranked Princeton women's lacrosse team started its game against No. 8 Penn State with five straight in the first 10 minutes.

Princeton started quickly and then added a 6-0 run to that to sprint away from Penn State 21-10 on Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium Wednesday. The win improved the Tigers to 2-1 heading into Saturday's Ivy League opener at home against Columbia, while Penn State lost for the first time in four games.

"We had some honest conversations over film and really worked hard these last couple of days," said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer. "We knew we had to take control and play our game and not focus on who we were playing. We just had to play harder and smarter, and we did that today."

The 21 goals were the most Princeton has scored in the 41 games it has played against Penn State, a series the Tigers now lead 25-16. The 11-goal margin of victory tied the most for the Tigers against the Nittany Lions.

With little time to dwell on the loss to UVa, a 14-9 setback that had been 9-9 with nine minutes to go, Princeton came out on fire. In fact, it was 5-0 after exactly 10 minutes, and it took Princeton just over 21 minutes to reach a 10-goal lead at 11-1 before it grew to 12-3 at the break.

"I think it was a demonstration of what we can do," Sailer said. "To have that turnaround from a game where we didn't look anything at all like ourselves to a dominant performance today and winning by 11 against Penn State, who's always a great team, it's exciting for our team. They saw what we're capable of when we put it all together."

Tess D'Orsi scored five goals, all of which came in the first 17:55 of the game, while Elizabeth George had a five-goal, six-point, eight-draw-control, two-caused-turnover night. Kyla Sears had a seven-point game with three goals and a career-high four assists.

Penn State scored the first two of the second half, getting goals 17 seconds apart less than two minutes after intermission, but Sailer called a timeout and her team responded with the next four. The game would get no closer after that.

NOTES

* Freshman Maria Pansini had her first career two-goal game, including the first of the day 1:59 in. Junior Katie Reilly had her first career goal.

* Princeton turned 33 shots in the 21 goals, and 29 of the team's 33 shots were on goal.

* After turning the ball over 27 times at Virginia, Princeton had fewer than half that number – 13 – in the game against Penn State.

* Nonie Anderson had nine draw controls and a caused turnover. Princeton won 19 of 33 draws.

* Sam Fish made nine saves for the Tigers.

* Kathryn Hallett and Allie Rogers also had two goals for Princeton. Madison Carter led the Nittany Lions with five goals and an assist.

* Julia Haney had a career high with three assists.