No. 17 Women's Lacrosse Set For Senior Day Saturday Against Dartmouth

Game 14 – No. 17 Princeton (8-5, 4-1 Ivy) vs. Dartmouth (7-5 1-4, Ivy)
Arpil 20 | 12 p.m. | Sherrerd Field | Senior Day & Fan Appreciation Day
ESPN+ | International Feed | Live Stats

THANK YOU, SENIORS
Saturday is Senior Day for the Class of 2024, and after the game Princeton will honor the nine members of the senior class -- Kari Buonanno, Caroline Burnett, Taylor DeGroff, Samantha DeVito, Sammy Filippi, Olivia Koch, Ellie Mueller, Grace Tauckus, and Abbie Wilhem. Five members of the Class of 2024 -- Buonanno, Burnett, DeGroff, Tauckus and Wilhelm -- had originally started their Princeton careers as members of the Class of 2023 before COVID-19 cut short their first seasons during 2020. Four Tigers -- DeVito, Filippi, Koch and Mueller -- began their collegiate careers during the 2020-21 academic year where the Ivy League did not compete.

All nine gathered back together on campus for the 2022 season, helping Princeton to an undefeated Ivy League season and championship, an Ivy League Tournament title, and a win in the First Round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. They enter this weekend with an overall record of 33-20 (.622) and an Ivy League mark of 16-4 (.800).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH DARTMOUTH
One of Princeton's fiercest rivals comes to town this weekend as Dartmouth visits Sherrerd Field. Princeton owns the lead in the all-time series, 29-20 in a history that dates back to an 8-6 Princeton win in April of 1980. Princeton has won six of the last eight meetings, but the most recent was a 15-14 win for the Big Green in Hanover last season. Dartmouth built a 5-2 lead after the first quarter of that game, but the Tigers dominated the second period, 6-0, to lead at halftime by a score of 8-5. Dartmouth chipped away, though, and turned a 12-9 deficit into a 14-12 advantage with a five-goal run. Kari Buonanno scored with 2:13 remaining to get the Tigers within one, but that was as close as the Tigers would get as Grace Tauckus hit the post with 1:29 remaining and a subsequent Haven Dora shot was denied with just over 1:00 to play. Buonanno finished the game with five goals, while Nina Montes had three goals and an assist. Samantha DeVito was a force in the midfield with five ground balls, three caused turnovers and four draw controls. Katie Elders and Katina Christensen each had four goals for the Big Green, while Gisele Todd made 12 saves.

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. 11. The Tigers are 4-5 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. 8 (Maryland; 16-12 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), No. 22 (Rutgers; 13-10 win) and No. 25 (Brown; 23-10 win). Princeton has the following upcoming games against teams ranked inside the ILWomen/IWLCA Top-25: No. 24 Harvard (April 27).

SEE YOU IN MAY!
With its win at Brown on April 13, Princeton secured another trip to the Ivy League Tournament which will be held the first weekend of May at a site TBD once the top seed is determined. This will be the 13th installment of the Ivy League Tournament since 2010 -- missing only the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to Covid-19. Princeton has now qualified for 12 of the 13 ILTs -- no other Ivy team has qualified for more -- and each of the last 10 contested. Princeton's six Ivy League Tournament championships are most of any team and they are tied for the most wins in Ivy Tournament games with 13.

Yale controls its own destiny for hosting the Ivy League Tournament, and can clinch a share of the Ivy title and the top seed with a win over Cornell this weekend. Princeton can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win and victories from Yale and Columbia.

SLAPPING DOWN A 20-SPOT
The Tigers have scored 20+ goals in two of their last four games entering this weekend, notching 24 at Columbia (4/6) and 23 at Brown (4/13). In its history, Princeton has scored 20+ goals in a game 21 times. The 1981 team did so four times, including a 29-goal outburst against Brown which is the high-water mark for goals in a game. The 2018 team reached 20 goals on three different occasions -- each against an Ivy opponent. No other season has seen more than two games with 20+ goals for the Tigers.

There have been 15 games with 23+ goals by a NCAA Division I team this season, and Princeton is one of six teams in the country with multiple games with 23+ goals. Mercer has actually reached that number five times.

SHAKE AND BLAKE!
Junior McKenzie Blake has set a new career high with 50 points this season, scoring 47 goals and adding three assists. She has surpassed her previous point totals of 47 (2023) and 46 (2022) in just 13 games this season.

She scored five times at Penn State to reach 100 career points and she enters this weekend with 143 career points on 122 goals and 21 assists to average 3.04 points-per-game over her 47 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. All total this season, Blake has 10 games with 3+ goals, eight games with 4+ goals, and four games with five goals. Over her last five games, she has scored 23 total goals with three five-goals games and two four-goal games.

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 and her 47 draw controls lead the team and are tied No. No. 13 in a season all-time by a Tiger.

Blake is three draw controls and three goals away from reaching 50 this season in both categories. Only one other player in program history has reached 50 in both in the same season -- Elizabeth George (62 goals, 88 draw controls) in 2019.

Blake also currently ranks No. 4 in the Ivy League -- and No. 22 in the country -- with 3.62 goals-per-game and is No. 1 in the Ivy League in shots-per-game (7.46).

Her play to date this season has earned her a spot on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List nuty she was not one of 25 players named a nominee for 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 60 points (27g, 33a) over her last 18 games (3.3ppg) with 3+ points in 14 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 nine consecutive games after setting a new single-game career high with seven (3g, 4a) against Penn, adding three assists against Columbia, posting a three-goal, one-assist night at Loyola and racking up six points (2g, 4a) at Brown.

Her 2.1 assists-per-game this season rank No. 3 in the Ivy League and No. 29 in the country.

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 155 points. Earlier this season against Yale, she scored her 100th career goal and enters this week with 124 total goals on 176 shots on goal -- scoring on 70% of her SOGs. With 124 goals and 31 assists for 155 points in 53 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 52 of her 53 career games and scored 2+ in 37 of her 53 appearances. In 2023, she had eight multi-goal games, and she already has seven 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 15-for-21 so far this season to rank No. 11 in the nation in free position % at .714 and No. 5 in free position goals-per-game at 1.15. Her 46 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 136 points over her career on 87 goals and 49 assists. With 48 career games played, she is averaging 2.83 points-per-game for her Princeton career. She has scored at least one goal in 40 of her 48 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 47 points over her last 18 games entering this week, including a five-point (1g, 4a) game against Rutgers, five points (4g, 1a) against Columbia, four points (2g, 2a) against Brown and four points against Maryland (3g, 1). 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 fourth on the Tigers in points through 13 games with 39 (25 goals, 14 assists) and has matched her career high of three assists three different times this season. Overall, she has 2+ goals in nine of Princeton's 13 games, including six in a row before being held scoreless at Loyola. MacDonald had five total goals during Princeton's Florida swing, scoring twice against the Gators and three times at Jacksonville. At 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 28 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 111 saves in 13 games, which rank No. 1 in the Ivy League and her 8.5 saves-per-game is No. 1 by an Ivy goalie. Her .419 save percentage is No. 5 among Ivy keepers.

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.

HELLO, MEG!
Meg Morrisroe's trip to Brown was a revelation as the rookie broke through with a memorable performance. After tallying six goals over her first nine collegiate games, Morrisroe exploded for eight goals against the Bears -- tying the program record for goals in a game which had been achieved just twice previously and not since 1989. Her efforts earned Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Morrisroe's eight goals in a game this season is tied for the fourth most in a game by any player in the country and is the most by any first-year player in the country.

SOPHIE IS SO GOOD!
Junior Sophie Whiteway is a key cog on the defensive side of the midfield with 133 career draw controls, 30 caused turnovers and 38 ground balls in 47 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 133 career draw controls rank No. 5 all-time by a Tiger since the stat was first tracked officially in 1993.

NOT TOO SHABBY, ABBY!
Abigail Roberts has become a force in the midfield for the Tigers of late. She has 31 draw controls for the Tigers this season, with 27 of them coming over her last seven games -- including a 10-draw control game at Brown on April 13 which she followed up with five DCs against Maryland on April 17. Her 31 total draw controls rank No. 3 on the team, and she leads the Tigers with 12 caused turnovers -- no one else has more than nine.

MUELLER TIME!
Ellie Mueller is second on the team with 33 draw control wins this season. She now has 63 career draw controls, each coming over her last 21 games -- averaging 3.0 per game over that span. 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 11 games to go with her 32 draws. Over her 39 career games, she has 46 points (28g, 18a) and 32 ground balls to go with her 63 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 21 points (16g, 5a) for a new career high while adding 14 draw controls and 10 ground balls so far this season.

KNOW THE NAME NINA
Junior Nina Montes has 58 points in 40 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. 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 11 games and scored 15 goals. Colette Quinn has played in all 13 games so far off the bench in the midfield and has four 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 five wins over ranked opponents in her career.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results