Top-Seeded Women's Lacrosse Hosts Ivy Tournament This Weekend

2022 Ivy League Women's Lacrosse Tournament
#1 Princeton (12-3, 7-0 Ivy) vs #4 Harvard (7-7, 4-3 Ivy)
May 6 | 7 p.m.
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RANKINGS RECAP
Princeton enters this week ranked No. 9 in the ILWomen/IWLCA National Rankings and No. 11 in the Nike/US Lacrosse National Poll. The Tigers are 4-3 in games against teams ranked in the Top-25, with wins over then-No. 10 Virginia, then-No. 20 Temple, then-No. 17 USC and then-No. 24 Yale and losses to then-No. 7 Loyola, then-No. 5 Stony Brook and then-No. 8 Maryland.

BACK IN THE POSTSEASON
Princeton has once again qualified for the Ivy League Tournament, making its 10th appearance which is tied for most all-time with Penn which had qualified for the first 10 ILTs before missing out this season. The Tigers have qualified for 10 of the 11 Ivy League Tournaments held since 2010, only missing out on the 2012 edition. The Tigers are 11-4 all=time in the Ivy League Tournament with five championships. Princeton's 11 wins in the Ivy League Tournament are tied with Penn for most all-time, and Princeton's five Ivy League Tournament championships are most all-time. The Tigers have won the last three Ivy League Tournaments (2016-19) and three of the last four. On home turf, the Tigers are 7-1 in Ivy League Tournament games played at Class of 1952 Stadium, winning tournament titles in the last three events played at '52 (2015, 2018, 2019).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Princeton holds a 34-18 edge in the all-time series dating back to 1974. The Tigers have won the last nine meetings, starting with an 11-9 win in Princeton on April 13, 2013. The last game between the two teams was a 14-9 win for Princeton in Cambridge on April 23. Kyla Sears (4g, 3a) had seven points, while Kate Mulham had three goals. The Crimson held an 8-7 lead after three quarters in the game, but a 6-0 run from Princeton to start the fourth turned the tide in the Tigers' favor.

Princeton and Harvard have met just once in the Ivy League Tournament, a 15-8 win for the Tigers at Class of 1952 Stadium in the 2015 semifinals. Olivia Hompe had six goals for the Tigers in that 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 430 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 16-time Ivy League champion.

TIGERS TAKE OVER ALL-IVY ANNOUNCEMENT
Princeton was all over the All-Ivy announcements, securing four of the five major yearly awards and eight total All-Ivy honors. Kyla Sears (Attacker of the Year), Marge Donovan (Defender of the Year) and Sam Fish (Goaltender of the Year) received on-field yearly awards, while Chris Sailer was named Coach of the Year. Sears and Donovan were unanimous selections, while Fish was named Goaltender of the Year for the second time. For Sailer, the Coach of the Year honor was the fourth of her career. Sears, Donovan and Fish were also named first-team All-Ivy, while Grace Tauckus and Kate Mulham were named second-team All-Ivy. Defenders Olivia Pugh, Maria Pansini and Mary Murphy were named honorable mention All-Ivy.

SEARS' CATALOG
Senior Kyla Sears enters the season with an impressive collection of stats and records. Her 285 points currently are tied for No. 1 all-time by a Tiger with Olivia Hompe '17. She also enters this week with 192 career goals -- No. 2 all-time by a Tiger and t away from tying Hompe for No. 1 all-time. Her 93 career assists are a school record, she set the new mark with two helpers last week against Yale.

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. Entering the postseason, she is No. 3 all-time in the Ivy League in points. She is one goal away from the No. 4 spot all-time in the Ivy League and six away from tying Hompe for No. 3. She is also three assists away from the No. 6 spot all-time in the Ivy League and five away from the No. 5 spot.

ATOP THE ACTIVE NCAA LEADERS
Kyla Sears has totaled 285 points in 59 career games, averaging 4.83 points-per-game which currently ranks No. 7 among active Division I players. Her 3.25 goals-per-game rank No. 12 among active players and her 1.58 assists-per-game rank No. 20 among active DI players.

SEARS OWNS THE ARC
Kyla Sears is Princeton's all-time leader in free position goals with 68 -- 33 more than the second-place Tiger.

MARGE IS MARCHING UP THE CHARTS
Marge Donovan's 185 career draw controls entering the week rank No. 2 all-time by a Tiger. She is four away from tying Elizabeth George '19 for No. 1. This season, she has 83 draw controls to go with 20 caused turnovers, also pitching in two goals and two assists. Donovan's 83 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 five away from Elizabeth George who had 88 in 2019.

FISH IS CATCHING ON
Goalkeeper Sam Fish has 534 saves over her 56 appearances, ranking No. 5 all-time in saves by a Princeton goalie -- 10 away from No. 4.

KATE THE GREAT
Kate Mulham has set career highs in goals (31), assists (9), points (40), and ground balls (10) this season. She has 20 goals over her last six 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 15 games this season, she has 36g, 5a for 41 points.

SHAKE AND BLAKE
McKenzie Blake has 39 points (30g. 9a) through 15 games, including a five-goal game at No. 17 USC. A two-way player, she has also caused 10 turnovers and picked up 27 grounds balls.

MUELLER TIME
Sophomore Ellie Mueller has 21 points in 14 games played, including a four-assist game at No. 17 USC. She has 12g, 9a with 16 ground balls added. Last 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 eighth on the team with 19 points (14g, 5a) through 14 games, also factoring in huge in the midfield with 47 draw controls, nine 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 18 goals and 24 points in 10 games this season, including a four-goal game at Virginia in the opener. After missing five games with injury, she returned with a goal and an assist last Wednesday at Columbia and two goals and an assist against Yale. She also has 14 draw controls, 10 caused turnovers and eight ground balls, all career highs.

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.

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.

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