No 10 Women's Lacrosse Makes Road Trip To No. 17 USC Tuesday

No. 10 Princeton (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) at No. 17 USC (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12)
Game Time: 6 p.m. EST
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RANKINGS RECAP
Princeton enters this week ranked No. 10 in both the ILWomen/IWLCA National Rankings and the Nike/US Lacrosse National Poll. The Tigers are 2-0 in games against teams ranked in the Top-25, with wins over then-No. 10 Virginia and then-No. 20 Temple.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Princeton is 2-0 all-time in previous meetings with USC. In 2013, the Tigers picked up an 18-13 win in Princeton. The following year, the Tigers secured a 14-7 win in LA.

COMING HOME...
A pair of California natives are making a return trip to the the Golden State this week as Princeton plays a pair of games on the West Coast. Goalkeeper Sam Fish is a San Diego native, and will play in front of home fans on Saturday at San Diego State. Sophomore defender Taylor DeGroff is from Palo Alto.

TIGERS CONQUER CORNELL TO OPEN IVY PLAY
Princeton again needed a late comeback, but improved to 3-0 with a 13-12 win over Cornell on March 5 to open Ivy League play. The Tigers trailed, 12-10, after three quarters but shut the Big Red out over the game's final 23:12 en route to the win. Kyla Sears and Ellie Mueler each had three goals and an assist in the win. Sam Fish made eight saves, including a game-saver with 0:05 left to play.

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 -- and No. 6 all-time -- with 421 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 221 points currently are tied for No. 4 all-time by a Tiger -- 64 away from the top spot. She is two points away from passing Erin McMunn (222) for No. 3. She also enters this weekend with 150 career goals -- No. 6 all-time by a Tiger and 11 away from tying No. 5 Theresa Sherry. Her 71 assists are tied for No. 6 all-time by a Princeton player -- 20 away from the top spot and eight away from No. 5.

ATOP THE ACTIVE LEADERS
Kyla Sears has totaled 221 points in 47 career games, averaging 4.70 points-per-game which currently ranks No. 4 among active Division I players. Her 3.2 goals-per-game rank No. 11 among active players and her 1.51 assists-per-game rank No. 11 among active DI players.

MARGE IS MARCHING UP THE CHARTS
Marge Donovan's 116 career draw controls entering the weekend rank No. 5 all-time by a Tiger. She is 15 away from tying Hilary Maddox for No. 4.

FISH IS CATCHING ON
Goalkeeper Sam Fish has 417 saves over her 45 appearances, ranking No. 9 all-time in saves by a Princeton goalie and 16 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 eight goals in three games this season, including a four-goal game at Virginia in the opener. She also has seven caused turnovers and seven ground balls, already surpassing her totals in those categories from her five games played in 2020.

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 three games this season, she has 9g, 1a for 1 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 (5g, 3a, 8pts, 5ct, 11gb), Sammy Filippi (4ct) and Sophie Whiteway (3g, 2a, 5pts, 6dc, 3ct, 2gb) have each stepped right in to the lineup as rookies.

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