No. 10 Women's Lacrosse Opens Ivy League Play With Cornell Saturday

No. 10 Princeton (2-0, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Cornell (2-1, 0-0 Ivy)
Game Time: 1 p.m.
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
ESPN+
Live Stats
Game Program
Princeton LaxCast With Chris Sailer & Sam Fish

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Tigers are 41-5 all-time against Cornell in the series, with wins in the six most recent games. Princeton's last loss in the series was a 10-9 defeat in the 2016 Ivy League Tournament, giving the Tigers wins in 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams. Chris Sailer is 35-4 all-time against the Big Red during her career.

BEEN A MINUTE...
It's been a while since the Tigers engaged in Ivy League play -- Saturday will mark 735 days between Ivy League games for the Orange and Black dating back to a 19-7 win at Columbia on 2/29/20. In terms of home Ivy games, Princeton will be playing its first since a 14-12 win over Harvard on April 13, 2019 -- marking 1,057 days between home Ivy games.

PRINCETON TAMES TEMPLE IN HOME OPENER
The Tigers needed some time to pull away from No. 22 Temple, but closed the game with its final four goals in a 14-10 win at Sherrerd Field. Kyla Sears had three of her six goals in that fourth quarter, assisting on another. Grace Tauckus had four goals, and McKenzie Blake had a four-point game with three assists. Sam Fish made nine saves, five of which came in the third quarter.

SEARS NAMED IVY LEAGUE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyla Sears tied her career high in goals (6) and points (8) last weekend against Temple, earning Ivy League Player of the Week honors.

TIGERS OPEN WITH WIN AT #11 VIRGINIA
Princeton's first game since March 8, 2020 was a resounding 17-11 win at No. 11 Virginia. The Tigers never trailed in the game, receiving points from 11 different players. Kari Buonanno had four goals, while Grace Tauckus had three goals and an assist. Freshman McKenzie Blake had a hat trick in her debut, adding four ground balls. Princeton played the final 26:57 without All-American senior Kyla Sears following her second yellow card -- Princeton's young guns would rally and turn a three-goal lead at the time into a five-goal win.

SAM'S BIG START GAINS NATIONAL ATTENTION
Goalie Sam Fish made 15 saves in the win at UVA, one off her career high. Her work resulted in IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week and Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors.

ONE FINAL SAIL
Head coach Chris Sailer embarks on her final season as head coach ot the Tigers after announcing her retirement in November. Already a member of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Sailer was announced for induction into the IWLCA Hall of Fame this past week. The winningest coach in program history, Sailer is No. 5 among active head coaches across all Divisions of women's lacrosse with 420 wins. She was won three NCAA championships during her time with the Tigers, and is a 15-time Ivy League champion.

PRESEASON PICK
For the fifth season in a row, Princeton has been chosen as the preseason No. 1 in the Ivy League Preseason Poll. The Tigers were a unanimous top choice, receiving all 18 first place votes.

THE WATCH
Marge Donovan and Kyla Sears were two of the 50 women named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List ahead of the 2022 season Sears has now been named to the Tewaaraton Watch List in each of her four seasons, for Donovan this is her third selection.

ALL-AMERICAN AMERICANS
Sears and Donovan have also has red, white and blue running through their veins in addition to our Orange & Black. This fall, they represented the United States at the Super Sixes event at US Lacrosse headquarters in Maryland. Ahead of this season, they both were named Preseason All-Americans by both US Lacrosse and Inside Lacrosse.

SEARS' CATALOG
Senior Kyla Sears enters the season with an impressive collection of stats and records. Her 217 points currently rank No. 6 all-time by a Tiger -- 68 away from the top spot. She is well within range of the No. 3-5 spots, entering the weekend in striking distance of No. 3 Erin McMunn (222), No. 4 Lindsey Biles (221) and No. 5 Lisa Rebane (220). She also enters this weekend with 147 career goals -- No. 6 all-time by a Tiger and 14 away from tying No. 5 Theresa Sherry. Her 70 assists are tied for No. 6 all-time by a Princeton player -- 21 away from the top spot and nine away from No. 5.

ATOP THE ACTIVE LEADERS
Kyla Sears has totaled 217 points in 46 career games, averaging 4.72 points-per-game which currently ranks No. 4 among active Division I players. Her 3.2 goals-per0-game rank No. 9 among active players and her 1.52 assists-per-game rank No. 11 among active DI players.

MARGE IS MARCHING UP THE CHARTS
Marge Donovan's 112 career draw controls entering the weekend rank No. 7 all-time by a Tiger. She is three away from tying Ellie McNulty for No. 5.

FISH IS CATCHING ON
Goalkeeper Sam Fish has 409 saves over her 44 appearances, ranking No. 9 all-time in saves by a Princeton goalie and 24 away from the No. 8 spot.

BUONANNO IS BUENO
Sophomore Kari Buonanno registered 18 points (14g, 4 a) over her five games in 2020 and was on pace for a 70+ point season which would have been among the best single season in program history. She has six goals in two games this season, including a four-goal game at Virginia in the opener.

GRACE ON FIRE
Sophomore Grace Tauckus had 17 goals in five games as a freshman in 2020, averaging 3.4 goals-per-game. Her pace was also in range of a Top-10 single-season mark for the Princeton program. Through two games this season, she had 7g, 1a for eight points.

RUNNING IT BACK
Of Princeton 75 goals scored over five games in 2020, players who accounted for 85% of that scoring return for the Tigers this season. In addition to Sears, Tauckus and Buonanno the Tigers return big contributions from Kate Mulham (6 goals, 2 assists), Maria Pansini (3g, 3a) and Gaby Hamburger (0g, 5a).

D-UNIT
Princeton's defense is an experienced group. Marge Donovan, Mary Murphy and Olivia Pugh each started all five games in 2020 and enter this year with a combined 131 games played among them. They have also collectively posted 103 caused turnovers and 192 ground balls.

WELCOME TO THE PARTY!
The Tigers received some impressive debut performances from players in their first collegiate games. McKenzie Blake (4g, 3a, 7pts, 3ct, 6gb), Sammy Filippi (4ct) and Sophie Whiteway (1g, 2a, 3pts, 6dc, 3ct, 1gb) have each stepped right in to the lineup as rookies.

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