No. 12 Women's Lacrosse Makes Trip To Columbia Wednesday

Wednesday, April 27

New York, N.Y.

4:00 PM

Princeton University

Columbia

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

No. 12 Women's Lacrosse Makes Trip To Columbia Wednesday

April 26, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse

No. 12 Princeton (10-3, 5-0 Ivy) at Columbia (2-11, 0-5 Ivy)
April 27 | 4 p.m.
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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.

BREAKING DOWN THE IVY POSTSEASON SCENARIOS
With their win over Harvard on Saturday, the Tigers have assured themselves of at least the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Ivy League Tournament. Princeton has now qualified for 10 of the 11 Ivy Tournaments and won five. Wins in their final two games will secure an outright Ivy League championship for Princeton, the No. 1 seed, and hosting duties for the Ivy League Tournament.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Princeton enters Wednesday's game with a 24-0 all-time record against Columbia, and the Tigers are 12-0 in NYC. The two teams met during the abbreviated 2020 season, a 19-7 win for the Tigers at Kraft Field. Princeton jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back. Kyla Sears had six points, scoring four times and adding two assists to become just the eighth player in program history to reach the 200-point mark for her career. Kari Buonanno and Grace Tauckus each had four goals, while Gaby Hamburger added five assists.

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 428 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 her alma mater all-time, Chris Sailer is 26-11, and an astounding 26-3 since 1993. She is 11-5 against the Crimson in Cambridge.

SEARS' CATALOG
Senior Kyla Sears enters the season with an impressive collection of stats and records. Her 272 points currently are No. 2 all-time by a Tiger -- 13 away from tying the top spot. She also enters this week with 181 career goals -- No. 3 all-time by a Tiger and eight away from tying Crista Samaras '99 for No. 2. Her 91 assists are tied for No. 1 all-time by a Princeton player with Erin McMunn '15.

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 two games to go in the regular season, she is No. 4 all-time in the Ivy League in points -- up next is fellow Tiger Olivia Hompe who she is also tracking down for the Princeton all-time record. She is one goal away from the No. 6 spot all-time in the Ivy League and one assist away from the No. 7 spot.

ATOP THE ACTIVE NCAA LEADERS
Kyla Sears has totaled 277 points in 57 career games, averaging 4.77 points-per-game which currently ranks No. 8 among active Division I players. Her 3.18 goals-per-game rank No. 11 among active players and her 1.60 assists-per-game rank No. 18 among active DI players.

SEARS OWNS THE ARC
Kyla Sears is Princeton's all-time leader in free position goals with 63 -- 28 more than the second-place Tiger.

MARGE IS MARCHING UP THE CHARTS
Marge Donovan's 178 career draw controls entering the week rank No. 3 all-time by a Tiger. She is one away from tying Holly McGarvie '09 for No. 2 and 21 away from tying for No. 1. This season, she has 75 draw controls to go with 19 caused turnovers, also pitching in two goals and an assist. Donovan's 75 draw controls this season are No. 3 in a season since the stat started being tracked in 1993 -- setting a new career high. She is two away from moving into the No. 2 spot and passing Nonie Anderson who had 76 in 2019. Also in range is the top spot, set by Elizabeth George in 2019 when she had 88.

FISH IS CATCHING ON
Goalkeeper Sam Fish has 515 saves over her 54 appearances, ranking No. 5 all-time in saves by a Princeton goalie -- 29 away from No. 4.

KATE THE GREAT
Kate Mulham has set career highs in goals (27), assists (8), points (35), and ground balls (9) this season. She has 15 goals over her last four games, including a pair of five-goal games against Maryland and Penn.

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 13 games this season, she has 29g, 5a for 34 points.

SHAKE AND BLAKE
McKenzie Blake has 33 points (26g. 7a) through 13 games, including a five-goal game at No. 17 USC. A two-way player, she has also caused eight turnovers and picked up 24 grounds balls.

MUELLER TIME
Sophomore Ellie Mueller has 16 points in 11 games played, including a four-assist game at No. 17 USC. She has 8g, 8a with 11 ground balls added.

SOPHIE, SO GOOD
Sophie Whiteway is seventh on the team with 18 points (13g, 5a) through 12 games, also factoring in huge in the midfield with 42 draw controls, seven caused turnovers and 11 ground balls. She had nine draw controls at USC.

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.

KYLA SEARS NAMED TEWAARATON NOMINEE
Senior Kyla Sears is the only Ivy Leaguer among the 25 nominees named for the 2022 Tewaaraton Award on April 21. A four-time Watch List selection, this is the first time Sears has been tabbed among the 25 players in contention for national player of the year.

SEARS NAMED IVY LEAGUE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR FOURTH TIME THIS SEASON
Kyla Sears had 11 points for the second week in a row, playing a big role in two Ivy wins. She had seven goals and four assists, including a 4g, 3a day against Harvard. This followed 11 points in two games against Maryland and Dartmouth, including an 8-point game against the Big Green which included six assists to tie the program's single game record. Her selection as Ivy Offensive Player of the Week was the fourth of the season and seventh of her career.

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.

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.