Princeton Hosts Villanova Tuesday Night

Villanova at No. 14 Princeton l Tuesday, April 2 l 7 PM I Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium
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The Princeton women's lacrosse team has no time for sentimentality, even with one of the greatest female athletes in school history coming back for a visit.

Princeton will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak Tuesday night against Villanova on Sherrerd Field (opening draw at 7). The Wildcats are coached by Julie Young, Princeton Class of 2001.

Princeton, who lost to No. 2 Maryland 15-7 this past Wednesday, did not play over the weekend and in fact have only played one of the last three Saturdays. Villanova enters the game off a 15-13 win over Marquette Saturday in Milwaukee in its Big East opener.

This will be the third meeting between the teams. Princeton has won the first two.

Princeton vs. Villanova: Five storylines

Welcome back
Villanova head coach Julie Young was Julie Shaner when she won the 2001 C. Otto von Kienbusch Award as the top female athlete at Princeton. Young was a four-time All-Ivy League selection in both lacrosse and soccer, playing in the NCAA tournament in both.

Princeton head coach Chris Sailer was Young's coach at Princeton obviously. Together they saw Princeton reach the 2000 NCAA championship game and the 2001 NCAA semifinals, and Young was a Tewaaraton Trophy finalist as a senior.

She was also a three-time IWLCA All-America as a Princeton player.

Young is in her eighth year as the head coach at Villanova, which means that she was the head coach for the only two other meetings between these two teams, back in 2012 and 2013.

Busy bodies
Princeton played five games in the month of March. The Villanova game is the first of seven in the month of April.

Princeton enters the game Tuesday night having played just three games in the last 23 days. Beginning with Villanova, the Tigers will play seven in 25 days.

The Villanova game is Princeton's second-to-last non-league game, with a home game against Loyola a week from Wednesday, after the trip to Dartmouth for Saturday's game.

Causing turnovers
Princeton has had great success causing turnovers so far this season.

In 19 games a year ago, Princeton as a team caused 146 turnovers, of an average of 7.68 per game. This year, Princeton has caused 92 turnovers in eight games, an average of 11.5 per game.

Sophomore Marge Donovan leads Princeton with 15 caused turnovers, or one fewer than she had all of last year, when she started 18 of 19 games. Alex Argo has caused 10 of her own, while five other players have at least seven.

Goal scoring
Princeton has three players with at least 20 goals, led by Tess D'Orsi with 26. Elizabeth George is next with 23, followed by Kyla Sears with 21.

Those three also all have reached the 30-point mark, with George at a team-best 37, followed by Sears (34) and D'Orsi (32).

George and Sears are the only players on the team with at least one goal in all eight games. D'Orsi had her streak of consecutive games with at least one goal snapped at 15 in the loss at Maryland. D'Orsi, who leads all active Princeton players with 111 goals, has at least three goals in six games this season and has at least three goals in 12 of her last 16 games.

All three, by the way, have at least seven caused turnovers as well.

Shooting stats
Princeton is shooting .491 as a team through eight games.

Looking a little deeper, Princeton is shooting 27 for 76 (.355) in its three losses and 84 for 150 (.560) in its five wins.

Other notes

* Kathryn Hallet enters the game with 96 career points (74G, 22A). Kyla Sears is 16 goals away from the 100 mark.

* Princeton and Villanova have one common opponent, Columbia. Princeton defeated the Lions 19-1, and Villanova defeated the Lions 11-10 in overtime. Villanova also has a 13-12 win over Cornell, a team Princeton will play April 28.

* In addition to leading the team in caused turnovers, Marge Donovan also leads the team in ground balls with 21.

* Elizabeth George leads Princeton with 42 draw controls. Nonie Andersen is second with 22.

* Julia Haney had seven points as a freshman and sophomore. She had 21 points as a junior and now has 12 in eight games this year, a pace for 22 in the regular season alone.

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Players Mentioned

Nonie Andersen

Alex Argo

Tess D'Orsi

Marge Donovan

Elizabeth George

Julia Haney

Kyla Sears

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