Another Top-25 Battle Awaits No. 17 Women's Lacrosse At No. 25 Brown

Game 12 – No. 17 Princeton (7-4, 3-1 Ivy) at No. 22 Brown (9-3, 2-2 Ivy)
Arpil 11 | 12 p.m. | Stevenson-Pincince Field
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THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH BROWN
The Tigers are 38-5 all-time against Brown in a series that dates back to 1980. Last year, it took two days for the game to get in as lightning on Saturday pushed the finish into Sunday. Ultimately, the Tigers prevailed to the tune of a 20-16 win at Sherrerd Field. Kate Mulham had five goals and two assists for the Tigers, while Grace Tauckus scored four times and McKenzie Blake added three.

TIGERS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Princeton sits at No. 17 in the ILWomen/IWLCA national poll and rank in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll at No. 12. The Tigers are 3-4 against opponents ranked inside the ILWormen/IWLCA Top-25 with games already against teams ranked at the time No. 7 Penn (14-9 win), No. 7 Loyola (21-11 loss), No. 13 Florida (16-13 loss), No. 16 (Virginia, 14-12 loss), No. 21 (Yale, 11-9 loss), No. 22 (Penn State; 18-13 win) and No. 22 (Rutgers; 13-10 win). Princeton has the following upcoming games against teams ranked inside the ILWomen/IWLCA Top-25: No. 25 Brown (April 13), No. 4 Maryland (April 17) and No. 22 Harvard (April 27).

SHAKE AND BLAKE!
Junior McKenzie Blake has put together two very consistent seasons over her first two collegiate campaigns, following up a 46-point rookie season with a 47-point sophomore season in 2023. She scored five times at Penn State to reach 100 career points and she enters this weekend with 134 career points on 113 goals and 21 assists to average 2.98 points-per-game over her 45 career games. Against No. 7 Penn, she scored five times to surpass the 100-goal mark for her career and she followed with five more goals at Columbia.

For her efforts against the Quakers and Lions, she was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week and USA Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week.

After playing a true two-way game as a first-year with 12 caused turnovers and 34 grounds balls, she focused more on attack and the draw circle last year where she contributed 21 draw controls. She already has set her single-game career high in draws twice this season with seven at Virginia and then eight at Penn State. She also currently ranks No. 4 in the Ivy League with 3.45 goals-per-game and is No. 3 in the Ivy League in shots-per-game (7.27).

Her play to date this season has earned her a spot on the most recent edition of the Tewaaraton Award Watch List announced the week of March 22.

SAY GRACE!
Grace Tauckus reached the 100-point mark at Penn on April 19 of 2023 and enters this week as the active leading scorer among Princeton players with 149 points. Earlier this season against Yale, she scored her 100th career goal and enters this week with 120 total goals on 171 shots on goal -- scoring on 70% of her SOGs. With 120 goals and 29 assists for 149 points in 51 games, she is averaging 2.92 points per game. Against Monmouth, she had six points (5g, 1a) and now has scored at least one goal in 50 of her 51 career games and scored 2+ in 35 of her 51 appearances. In 2023, she had eight multi-goal games, and she already has six in 2024. She has two six-point games, those efforts were one off her career high of seven points (4g, 3a) in the 2022 Ivy League Tournament final against Yale. More recently, Tauckus scored five times against Cornell on March 23 -- one goal off her singe-game career high -- and had three goals against Penn.

Tauckus is on point with her free positions, shooting 14-for-18 so far this season to rank No. 7 in the nation in free position % at .778 and No. 5 in free position goals-per-game at 1.27. Her 45 career free position goals are No. 2 all-time by a Tiger, behind only Kyla Sears who had 75 between 2018-22.

KEEPING TRACK OF KARI
Kari Buonanno is another Tiger with more than 100 career points, entering this week with 128 points over her career on 82 goals and 46 assists. With 46 career games played, she is averaging 2.78 points-per-game for her Princeton career. She has scored at least one goal in 38 of her 46 games she has played as a Tiger, and set a new career highs with 29 goals and 19 assists for 48 points over her 16 games last season. She also set a new single-season best with 44 draw controls. She has 39 points over her last 16 games entering this week, including a five-point (1g, 4a) game against Rutgers and five points (4g, 1a) against Columbia. Against Jacksonville, she had three goals (on three shots) and added five ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls on her way to Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors.

MACDONALD'S SERVING UP POINTS
Sophomore attacker Jami MacDonald posted a 42-point first year in 2023, scoring 24 goals and adding 18 assists. Her opening games for 2024 have continued that pace as she is third on the Tigers in points through 11 games with 34 (22 goals, 12 assists) and has matched her career high of three assists three different times this season. Overall, she has 2+ goals in eight of Princeton's 11 games, including six in a row before being held scoreless at Loyola. MacDonald have five total goals during Princeton's Florida swing, scoring twice against the Gators and three times at Jacksonville. Last weekend against Columbia, she had three goals and three assists. She is following the lead of her older brother Mike, a 2015 Princeton graduate and a Roper Trophy winner as the top senior male athlete in his class who ranks fifth all-time with the Princeton men in career points with 208.

COMING UP HUGHES
Sophomore goalkeeper Amelia Hughes has acclimated herself well to college lacrosse, drawing the start in each game to commence her career. She has registered 10+ saves in 14 of her 26 games, and has 11 games with a save percentage north of .500. Her high-water mark in saves in a game came in a 19-save performance at Temple in 2023 which earned IWLCA National Defensive Player of the Week honors. Against No. 22 Rutgers, she made 16 saves while allowing 10 goals in the win. Against Penn, she made 11 saves while allowing nine goals.

She has 96 saves in 11 games, which rank No. 1 in the Ivy League and her 8.7 saves-per-game is No. 1 by an Ivy goalie.

Three weeks ago, she was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week after totaling 23 saves and a .523 save percentage over Princeton's two games.

SOPHIE IS SO GOOD!
Junior Sophie Whiteway is a key cog on the defensive side of the midfield with 132 career draw controls, 29 caused turnovers and 37 ground balls in 45 career games played. She is also capable when called upon in the attacking third with 34 career goals and 42 total points. She was involved as usual in the opener with a goal, an assist, three caused turnovers, three ground balls and a draw control at Virginia. At Penn State, she scored twice and added two ground balls. Against Monmouth, she had eight draw controls -- one of her single-game career high of nine set three times. At Jacksonville, she scored once and added four ground balls, a caused turnover and two draw controls.

Her 132 career draw controls rank No. 5 all-time by a Tiger since the stat was first tracked officially in 1993

MUELLER TIME!
Ellie Mueller is second on the team with 24 draw control wins this season, and takes most draws for the Tigers. She now has 55 career draw controls, each coming over her last 19 games -- averaging 2.9 per game. In 2023, she had tallied 16 points (11g. 5a) in 10 games before suffering a season-ending injury against Columbia. So far this season, she has six points (3g, 3a) in 9 games to go with her 24 draws. Over her 37 career games, she has 46 points (28g, 18a) and 32 ground balls to go with her 55 draw controls.

DEVITO FILLS THE STAT SHEET
Samantha DeVito does a little bit of everything for the Tigers. Last year she tallied 12 points (9g, 3a), 23 draw controls, 15 ground balls and 8 caused turnovers. She already has 19 points (14g, 5a) for a new career high while adding 12 draw controls and 10 ground balls so far this season.

HAVEN SENT!
Starting with the stretch run in 2023, Haven Dora has become a key part of Princeton's attack. Dating back to last season, she has 51 points (25g, 26a) over her last 16 games with 3+ points in 12 of those games. She had two goals and an assist in wins at Penn State and against Monmouth, and she tallied eight total points in two games during the Florida trip with four points (1g, 3a) one way at Florida and another (3g, 1a) at Jacksonville. She now has 3+ points in seven consecutive games after setting a new single-game career high with seven (3g, 4a) against Penn, adding three assists against Columbia and posting a three-goal, one-assist night at Loyola.

KNOW THE NAME NINA
Junior Nina Montes has 58 points in 38 career games, scoring 47 times and adding 11 assists. She can score in bunches, last season she had four games with 3+ goals, but totaled just four over her other 11 appearances. She returned at Florida after missing four games with injury and found her form in her second game back with a hat trick against Jacksonville. At Columbia, she had a three-point game with two goals and an assist. Last time out at Loyola, she had two goals.

FRESH FACES
The rookie class has made some immediate impacts over their first collegiate games. Ella Sloan came off the bench with two goals at Penn State in the fourth quarter and now has five goals and six total points this season, while Meg Morrisroe has appeared in nine games and scored six goals. Colette Quinn has played in all 11 games so far off the bench in the midfield and has three goals.

LET'S COOK!
Jenn Cook is in her second season as head coach of the Tigers and 12th overall on staff at Princeton. The 2007 North Carolina grad took over for Hall of Famer Chris Sailer after serving 10 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach. During her 10 previous years with the Tigers, Cook has been part of seven Ivy League championships during the eight seasons contest around COVID-19 pauses. She has helped guide the Tigers to eight NCAA appearances in those eight full seasons, reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals three times. A three-time All-American and two-time Tewaaraton Award nominee as a player, Cook was the 2007 Inside Lacrosse Defender of the Year and graduated as the Tar Heel's all-time leader in ground balls (200) and games played (76). Cook's first career win came on February 25 at Temple via a 17-9 victory, and her first career win over a Top-25 opponent was an 18-12 win at No. 14 Rutgers on March 1. She now has four wins over ranked opponents in her career.

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