No. 6 Women's Lacrosse Guts Out 16-14 Win At Temple To Open 2020

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PHILADELPHIA – It's not how you start, it's how you finish.

No. 6 Princeton needed some time to get acclimated to live reps in its 2020 season opener at Temple, but when the Tigers got their feet under them in the second half they were able to erase a two-goal deficit and rally for a 16-14 win over the Owls.

The Tigers trailed, 8-6, at halftime and again were down by two with 21:40 remaining. From that point on, Princeton scored seven of the game's final 10 goals to secure the first victory of the season. Princeton made the most its trips to the eight-meter line, scoring on 7-of-11 free positions while Temple was only 1-for-8.

Head coach Chris Sailer had contributions from veteran players and newcomers. Junior Kyla Sears led the way with four goals and three assists and a game-high 10 points. Freshman Kari Buonanno had a five-point game in her collegiate debut, including four goals. Sophomore Kate Mulham had three goals in her first collegiate game after missing all of 2019 with injury. Senior Katie Reilly, who entered the season with three career points, had a goal and three assists in the game.

For Sears, her three assists tie her with Amory Rowe '95 and Lauren Simone '02 for No. 7 all-time by a Princeton player with 62.

Sam Fish made 15 saves in goal – including nine in the first half to keep the Tigers in range, while defender Marge Donovan had four ground balls, two draw controls and a caused turnover. Katherine MicIntire had three draw controls in her first collegiate game.

First-game emotions helped stake Princeton to a 4-2 lead 11:48 into the game, with a pair of goals from Buonanno and strikes from Mulham and Lucie Gildehaus getting the Tigers on the board early.

Temple countered as the emotions wore off, scoring the game's next six goals to take an 8-4 lead with 5:29 remaining the first half. Princeton halted the Temple momentum though, as Donovan won the ensuing draw and Maria Pansini scored just 0:27 later to start a four-goal run for the Tigers which eventually tied the game, 8-8, just 2:22 into the second half.

Both sides traded goals for the first third of the second half, but Princeton did not allow Temple to pull away. Three consecutive goals from the Tigers regained the lead at 12-11 as Grace Tauckus had two free position goals and Sears finished a Reilly pass with 12:43 remaining.

Temple again answered, with Riley McGowan scoring twice in 0:39 to give Temple a 13-12 lead with 8:34 left.

That would be the last time the Owls led.

Princeton scored four the game's final five goals – Kate Mulham picking up two of them. An Owls goal with 2:46 remaining cut Princeton's lead to 15-14, but Buonanno slammed the door with her fourth of the game at the one-minute mark. Temple won the ensuing draw, but Donovan did what All-Americans do by causing a turnover to stymie the Owls comeback attempt.

Princeton takes to Sherrerd Field for the first time on February 22, hosting No. 5 Virginia at 1 p.m.

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