Senior Day & Ivy Title Showdown Highlight Chris Sailer's Final Regular Season Home Game Saturday

Saturday, April 30

Princeton, N.J.

3:00 PM

Princeton University

Yale

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Senior Day & Ivy Title Showdown Highlight Chris Sailer's Final Regular Season Home Game Saturday

April 28, 2022 | Women's Lacrosse

No. 12 Princeton (11-3, 6-0 Ivy) vs #24 Yale (10-4, 6-0 Ivy)
Senior Day & Chris Sailer Celebration
April 30 | 3 p.m.
ESPN+
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All fans are invited to join Princeton Lacrosse after the game for special ceremonies honoring the Class of 2022 and head coach Chris Sailer. Lucky fans in attendance will have an opportunity to obtain one-of-a-kind Chris Sailer bobbleheads as well!

What do you get the coach that has everything?

Her own bobblehead!

Lucky fans at Saturday's game against Yale will have a chance to receive a special Chris Sailer bobblehead to help celebrate her final regular season home game! pic.twitter.com/4HElTyFw7V
— Princeton Women's Lax (@princetonwlax) April 28, 2022

THANK YOU, CLASS OF 2022!
Saturday marks the final home regular season game for the Class of 2022. As a group, the Class of 2022 has won 43 games overall and is 19-2 in the Ivy League en route to winning two Ivy League championships with a chance to add to that number this weekend. The Class of 2022 has qualified for all three Ivy League Tournaments held during their careers and has won two entering next week's event. This group has reached two NCAA Tournaments, winning games in each tournament and reaching the quarterfinals in 2019.

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 3-3 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
It's winner-take-all between Princeton and Yale this weekend. Both teams enter with 6-0 records in the Ivy League, the winner secures an outright Ivy League championship and hosting duties for the 2022 Ivy League Tournament next weekend. Princeton has won 15 Ivy League championships overall, including at least a share of the last six dating back to 2014. Princeton's last outright Ivy crown came back in 2015. Yale has won two Ivy League title in program history, sharing the title in 1980 and 2003.

Elsewhere around the Ivy League, both Brown, Harvard and Cornell enter the weekend with 3-3 records in the Ivy League and tied for third. Brown and Harvard play each other on Saturday, the winner clinching a spot in the ivy League Tournament. Cornell can also secure its postseason berth with a win at Dartmouth. If the Big Red lose, they'd be tied with the loser of the Brown-Harvard game as well as potentially Penn (2-4 entering this weekend with a game left on Sunday at Columbia) for the fourth spot which would activate tiebreakers for the final ILT qualifier.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Princeton enters Saturday with a 31-14-1 record all-time against Yale and wins in the last 12 meetings dating back to the 2008 season. All-time in Princeton, the Tigers are 18-5 and have won 15 consecutive games played in New Jersey. Chris Sailer is 28-6 all-time against Yale, and 15-1 against the Bulldogs at home -- with wins in the last 15 games at Princeton since a 10-9 Yale win in 1988.

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 429 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 278 points currently are No. 2 all-time by a Tiger -- seven away from tying Olivia Hompe '17 for the top spot. She also enters this week with 187 career goals -- No. 3 all-time by a Tiger and two 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 two goals 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 278 points in 58 career games, averaging 4.79 points-per-game which currently ranks No. 8 among active Division I players. Her 3.22 goals-per-game rank No. 10 among active players and her 1.57 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 66 -- 31 more than the second-place Tiger.

MARGE IS MARCHING UP THE CHARTS
Marge Donovan's 184 career draw controls entering the week rank No. 2 all-time by a Tiger. She is five away from tying Elizabeth George '19 for No. 1. This season, she has 82 draw controls to go with 19 caused turnovers, also pitching in two goals and an assist. Donovan's 82 draw controls this season are No. 2 in a season since the stat started being tracked in 1993 -- setting a new career high. She is seven away from Elizabeth George who had 88 in 2019.

FISH IS CATCHING ON
Goalkeeper Sam Fish has 517 saves over her 55 appearances, ranking No. 5 all-time in saves by a Princeton goalie -- 27 away from No. 4.

KATE THE GREAT
Kate Mulham has set career highs in goals (29), assists (8), points (37), and ground balls (9) this season. She has 18 goals over her last five 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 14 games this season, she has 32g, 5a for 37 points.

SHAKE AND BLAKE
McKenzie Blake has 36 points (28g. 8a) through 14 games, including a five-goal game at No. 17 USC. A two-way player, she has also caused 10 turnovers and picked up 26 grounds balls.

MUELLER TIME
Sophomore Ellie Mueller has 19 points in 13 games played, including a four-assist game at No. 17 USC. She has 11g, 8a with 15 ground balls added. On Wednesday at Columbia, she had three goals and four grounds balls -- tying her career-high in goals and setting one in ground balls.

SOPHIE, SO GOOD
Sophie Whiteway is seventh on the team with 19 points (14g, 5a) through 13 games, also factoring in huge in the midfield with 44 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 16 goals and 21 points in nine games this season, including a four-goal game at Virginia in the opener. After missing give games with injury, she returned with a goal and an assist Wednesday at Columbia. 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.