No. 16 Women's Lacrosse Topples No. 13 Loyola, 16-14

Sunday, February 23

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

1-1

No. 13 Loyola (Md.)

2-2

Loyola

Princeton

Photo by: Nick Ierardi

No. 16 Women's Lacrosse Topples No. 13 Loyola, 16-14

February 23, 2025 | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

An early-season gut check proved No. 16 Princeton ready for prime time as the Tigers scratched and clawed their way to a 16-14 win over No. 13 Loyola in a proper showcase for two of the sport's most historic programs.

The Tigers led by four at one point, but found themselves embroiled in a tie game after Loyola scored to make it 12-12 just 0:15 into the fourth quarter. From there, Princeton's trio of dangerous attackers took over as Haven Dora and McKenzie Blake scored twice in 29 seconds to regain a two-goal lead once again for the Tigers with 12:04 to play and Princeton never trailed the rest of the way.

The Greyhounds twice crept back within a goal, but each time Princeton had an answer. The first was a goal from Jami MacDonald with 7:23 to play, the second was one for the highlight reel as McKenzie Blake went behind-the-back off a Dora feed to put an exclamation point on a four-goal afternoon with 3:22 remaining in the game.

Dylan Allen would win the ensuing draw, and Princeton maintained possession the rest of the way to ice the victory. Blake had a key role in that as well, racing to a ground ball after Loyola's Lauren Spence made a save with 1:55 to play which reset the shot clock and forced Loyola into an aggressive defense that resulted in two yellow cards and plenty of room for Princeton to run out the clock.

The Tigers are now 1-1 on the season, while Loyola falls to 2-2.

Blake set a milestone with her four goals, becoming the seventh player in program history to reach the 150-goal mark for her career when she tallied her second goal of the afternoon midway through the third quarter. She now has 152 for her career, and has started the season on fire with 10 goals in two games. Just as important as the goals scored by Blake were her five draw controls which helped the Tigers battle the Greyhounds even on the draw circle in the second half, 8-8, after Loyola had a 10-7 edge in the first half.

After going scoreless in the opener, Jami MacDonald had a four-goal game of her own -- part of a five-point afternoon which saw her surpass the 100-point mark for her career.

Haven Dora tied her career high with three goals, dishing out three assists along the way to increase her point total through two games to 11 (4g, 7a) to lead the team.

The Tigers played two goalkeepers in the game, and each had vital moments on the road to victory. Amelia Hughes made seven saves in 37:37 of play while allowing eight goals to earn the win. She had three saves in the first quarter and three key stops in the fourth. Elizabeth Gonnella stopped four shots while allowing six goals in her 22:23 of play, coming up clutch with three saves in the third quarter.

The Tigers were short-handed on defense to close out the game, as Abigal Roberts sat out the final 21:00 after being issued a second yellow card following a start to the game where she had won three draws and picked up two ground balls. A second starter on defense, Mia James missed the entire second half with injury. That resulted in increased playing time for Zoe Bye (1 ground ball) and Sarah Nelson (1 ground ball) in the defensive end and they were up to the task.

Lauren Spence made 11 saves in goal for Loyola, including seven in the first quarter. Georgia Latch had six points (3g, 3a) while Chase Boyle had four goals and 10 draw controls.

How It Happened

Princeton needed some time to get going as Loyola built a 2-1 lead 4:49 into the game.
After that, the Tigers scored three in a row to take a lead they would never relinquish. Nina Montes gave the Tigers their first lead with 6:01 to play in the first quarter off an assist from Maggie Molnar.
A pair of Loyola goals in a span of 0:44 early in the second half brought the game back tied, 5-5. That was one of five times the game was tied during the day.
The closing six minutes of the second quarter and opening five of the third were where Princeton did their damage. The Tigers outscored the Greyhounds, 5-1, in that span to build an 11-7 lead. Five different Tigers scored in that stretch, including the first career goal from Grace Mulham and the first of the season from Lane Calkins.
That run was negated by a matching 5-1 spurt from Loyola over a span of 10:17 to close the third quarter and open the fourth. Elis Faklaris had two goals, and a score from Gabby Stapleton 0:15 into the fourth quarter tied the game at 12-12.
The game was tied for just 1:12 before Dora capped off a tremendous coast-to-coast play started by a Hughes save and an athletic Sarah Nelson ground ball that led to Dora charging right down the center of the field for a goal on the fly to make it 13-12.