No. 17 Women's Lacrosse Sees Rally Fall Short In 16-12 Defeat To No. 8 Maryland

Wednesday, April 17

7:00 PM

Princeton University

8-5

No. 8 Maryland

12-4

Maryland

Princeton

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

No. 17 Women's Lacrosse Sees Rally Fall Short In 16-12 Defeat To No. 8 Maryland

April 17, 2024 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

A dry spell to open the second half for No. 17 Princeton was too much for the Tigers to overcome in a 16-12 loss to No. 8 Maryland at Sherrerd Field.

The Tigers (8-5, 4-1 Ivy) and Terrapins (12-4, 4-2 Big Ten) were tied at the end of the first quarter, 5-5, and even after two periods, 8-8, but a 6-0 third quarter for the Terps was enough distance to stave off a fourth-quarter rally from the host Orange and Black.

McKenzie Blake continued her torrid pace, scoring four goals to give her 47 for the season and increase her point total to 50. Kari Buonanno also had a four-point game, scoring three times and adding an assist. Haven Dora had three assists, while Grace Tauckus had two goals and a helper.

The first half was back and forth as neither team led by more than two goals. There were six ties and two lead changes in the opening 30:00 of play as both teams competed for an advantage.

The Terrapins gained the first two-goal lead of the game with 4:16 left in the first quarter via an Eloise Clevenger goal, but Jami MacDonald (free position goal) and Grace Tauckus scored in the final 2:35 of the opening stanza to draw the game level at 5-5.

The Tigers would score the next two goals as well, Kari Buonanno and McKenzie Blake scoring to give the Tigers a 7-5 lead with 6:59 remaining in the half.

A pair of Maryland goals 0:33 apart tied the game at 7-7, and Chrissy Thomas would give the Terps an 8-7 lead with 1:56 remaining in the first half.

That leas was short live, however, as Blake scored just 0:34 later to tie the game at 8-8 heading into intermission.

What had been a supremely close game quickly turned to Maryland's favor in thew third quarter as the Terps scored all six goals of the third period to lead, 14-8, entering the final frame. Four of those goals came in the first 5:46 of the third period as Maryland was putting together the deadly combination of scoring goals and winning the ensuing draw control to build a commanding lead.

In the fourth quarter, Princeton would try and claw back in via some quick strike offense from Meg Morrisroe and Buonanno who scored 1:31 apart to make the score 15-10 and again from Blake who had two goals off assists from Dora in a span of 0:22 to get the Tigers within four with 4:25 to play.

That was as close as the Tigers would get as Maryland came up with one more save and maintained possession throughout the final minutes of play.

The Tigers close out the home portion of their regular season on April 20, hoisting Dartmouth on Senior Day at noon.