No. 12 Women's Lacrosse Set For Date With Dartmouth Saturday

Saturday, April 16

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Dartmouth

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

No. 12 Women's Lacrosse Set For Date With Dartmouth Saturday

April 15, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse

No. 12 Princeton (7-3, 2-0 Ivy) vs. Dartmouth (3-7, 1-3 Ivy)
Princeton Jungle Day
April 16 | 12 p.m.
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Princeton Laxcast With Chris Sailer

RANKINGS RECAP
Princeton enters this week ranked No. 12 in the ILWomen/IWLCA National Rankings and No. 12 in the Nike/US Lacrosse National Poll. The Tigers are 3-2 in games against teams ranked in the Top-25, with wins over then-No. 10 Virginia, then-No. 20 Temple and then-No. 17 USC and losses to then-No. 7 Loyola, then-No. 5 Stony Brook and then-No. 8 Maryland.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Tigers are 28-19 all-time against Dartmouth in a series that dates back to 1980. Princeton has won five of the last six meetings, including a 14-12 win the last time the two teams met on April 6, 2019 in Hanover. Kyla Sears had seven points in that game, scoring twice and dishing out five assists. Tess D'Orsi had five goals for Princeton as well. Sam Fish made 11 saves while picking up four ground balls. The turning point in the game was a 5-0 Princeton run to close out the first half which turned a 5-4 deficit into a 9-5 lead at the break. The Big Green had an answer, scoring six of the first seven goals in the second half to take a 12-11 lead with 10:05 to play, but the Tigers countered with a three-goal run to end the game.

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 all-time among all NCAA women's lacrosse coaches -- and No. 2 in Division I -- with 425 wins. She is also No. 2 all-time in wins by a head coach at one institution in NCAA Lacrosse. She has won three NCAA championships during her time with the Tigers, and is a 15-time Ivy League champion.

SEARS' CATALOG
Senior Kyla Sears enters the season with an impressive collection of stats and records. Her 253 points currently are No. 3 all-time by a Tiger -- 32 away from tying the top spot. She also enters this weekend with 172 career goals -- No. 4 all-time by a Tiger and 3 away from tying Lindey Biles '05 for No. 3. Her 81 assists are No. 3 all-time by a Princeton player -- 10 away from the top spot.

ATOP THE ACTIVE LEADERS
Kyla Sears has totaled 253 points in 54 career games, averaging 4.69 points-per-game which currently ranks No. 7 among active Division I players. Her 3.19 goals-per-game rank No. 11 among active players and her 1.50 assists-per-game rank No. 15 among active DI players.

MARGE IS MARCHING UP THE CHARTS
Marge Donovan's 163 career draw controls entering the week rank No. 3 all-time by a Tiger. She is 16 away from tying Holly McGarvie '09 for No. 2. This season, she has 61 draw controls to go with 14 caused turnovers, also pitching in two goals and an assist.

FISH IS CATCHING ON
Goalkeeper Sam Fish has 491 saves over her 51 appearances, ranking No. 7 all-time in saves by a Princeton goalie and 14 away from the No. 6 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 15 goals and 19 points in eight games this season, including a four-goal game at Virginia in the opener. She also has nine caused turnovers and eight 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 10 games this season, she has 24g, 4a for 28 points.

SHAKE AND BLAKE
McKenzie Blake has 26 points (20g. 6a) through 10 games, including a five-goal game at No. 17 USC. A two-way player, she has also caused eight turnovers and picked up 18 grounds balls.

MUELLER TIME
Sophomore Ellie Mueller has 14 points in nine games played, including a four-assist game at No. 17 USC. She has 7g, 7a with 10 ground balls added.

KATE THE GREAT
Kate Mulham has set career highs in goals (16), assists (8), points (24), and ground balls (6) this season. Her 24 points through 10 games in 2022 are more than double the eight points she had in five games in 2020. She is coming off her cereer-best game, scoring five times on Wednesday against Maryland.

SOPHIE, SO GOOD
Sophie Whiteway is sixth on the team with 17 points (12g, 5a) through 10 games, also factoring in huge in the midfield with 39 draw controls, seven caused turnovers and nine ground balls. She had nine draw controls at USC.

TIGERS SWEEP CALIFORNIA TRIP
Kyla Sears (4g, 3a) and McKenzie Blake (5g) led the offense, while Sophie Whiteway had nine draw controls and three goals as the Tigers never trailed in an 18-13 win at USC on Tuesday. Princeton would then cap its West Coast swing with a 27-18 win over San Diego State. Nina Montes (5g, 1a) and Kyla Sears (4g, 1a) had big days on offense, as did McKenzie Blake and Grace Tauckus who each had four goals. Marge Donovan had 11 draw controls, tying Princeton's single-game high.

DONOVAN AND SEARS SWEEP IVY WEEKLY HONORS
After a 2-0 trip to California, Princeton swept both Ivy League weekly awards. Marge Donovan was a key cog in the draw game with her 11 draw controls at SDSU, earning Defensive Player of the Week honors. Kyla Sears had 12 points over the two games, securing Ivy Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.

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 Mueller 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.

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.

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.