Women's Lacrosse Set For National TV Appearance Wednesday Against Penn

Wednesday, April 20

Princeton, N.J.

5:00 PM

Princeton University

Penn

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Women's Lacrosse Set For National TV Appearance Wednesday Against Penn

April 17, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse

No. 12 Princeton (8-3, 3-0 Ivy) vs. Penn (4-8, 1-3 Ivy)
High School Night
April 20 | 5 p.m.
TV: ESPNU
ESPN+
Live Stats

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
Princeton holds a 28-22-3 edge in the all-time series dating back to 1974. The Tigers have won the last five meetings, starting with a 17-8 win in the Ivy League Tournament on May 5, 2017. The last game between the two teams was also an Ivy Tournament affair -- a 13-9 win for the Tigers in the 2019 ILT Final in New York City. That game was tied at halftime, 6-6, before Princeton took a 9-6 lead out of the break and never looked back. Kyla Sears had seven points in the game, scoring twice and dishing out five assists to go with twi caused turnovers and three ground balls. Lilian Stout had three draw controls, while Mary Murphy had three ground balls. Sam Fish had nine saves.

FREQUENT FOES
The pause in the series since 2019 due to COVID has halted one of Princeton's most frequent rivalries. Since the Ivy League Tournament began in 2010, Princeton and Penn have played 17 times over the 10 completed seasons -- meeting seven times in the Ivy Tourney in addition to the regular season meetings. The Tigers are 10-7 in the recent run of the series, including a 5-2 record in ILT games.

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 426 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. Against Penn all-time, Chris Sailer is 28-12 and she is 13-5 against the Quakers in Princeton.

SEARS' CATALOG
Senior Kyla Sears enters the season with an impressive collection of stats and records. Her 261 points currently are No. 3 all-time by a Tiger -- 24 away from tying the top spot. She also enters this week with 174 career goals -- No. 4 all-time by a Tiger and one away from tying Lindsey Biles '05 for No. 3. Her 86 assists are No. 3 all-time by a Princeton player -- one away from tying Olivia Hompe '14 for No. 2 and five away from tying Erin McMunn '15 for the top spot.

CLIMBING THE IVY RANKS
Not only is Kyla Sears making her move up the Princeton record book, she is vaulting her way up the Ivy record book as well. With four games to go in the regular season, she is No. 5 all-time in the Ivy League in points -- the two players directly ahead of her are the pair of Tigers she's tracking down. She is eight goals away from the No. 6 spot all-time in the Ivy League and six assists away from the No. 7 spot.

ATOP THE ACTIVE NCAA LEADERS
Kyla Sears has totaled 261 points in 55 career games, averaging 4.75 points-per-game which currently ranks No. 6 among active Division I players. Her 3.16 goals-per-game rank No. 11 among active players and her 1.56 assists-per-game rank No. 14 among active DI players.

SEARS OWNS THE ARC
Kyla Sears is Princeton's all-time leader in free position goals with 59 -- 24 more than the second-place Tiger.

MARGE IS MARCHING UP THE CHARTS
Marge Donovan's 170 career draw controls entering the week rank No. 3 all-time by a Tiger. She is nine away from tying Holly McGarvie '09 for No. 2. This season, she has 68 draw controls to go with 15 caused turnovers, also pitching in two goals and an assist. Donovan's 68 draw controls this season are No. 4 in a season since the stat started being tracked in 1993 -- she's three away from setting a new career high and passing herself for third place and nine away from moving into the No. 2 spot and passing Nonie Anderson in 2019.

FISH IS CATCHING ON
Goalkeeper Sam Fish has 497 saves over her 52 appearances, ranking No. 7 all-time in saves by a Princeton goalie -- eight away from the No. 6 spot and 15 away from No. 5.

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 11 games this season, she has 26g, 4a for 30 points.

SHAKE AND BLAKE
McKenzie Blake has 29 points (22g. 7a) through 11 games, including a five-goal game at No. 17 USC. A two-way player, she has also caused eight turnovers and picked up 21 grounds balls.

MUELLER TIME
Sophomore Ellie Mueller has 15 points in 10 games played, including a four-assist game at No. 17 USC. She has 7g, 8a with 10 ground balls added.

KATE THE GREAT
Kate Mulham has set career highs in goals (19), assists (8), points (27), and ground balls (7) this season. Her 27 points through 11 games in 2022 are more than double the eight points she had in five games in 2020. She is coming off her career-best game, scoring five times on Wednesday against Maryland, and she added three more goals on Saturday against Dartmouth.

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.