No. 12 Women's Lacrosse Hosts Penn State Wednesday

Wednesday, March 5

Princeton, N.J.

5:30 PM

Princeton University

Penn State

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

No. 12 Women's Lacrosse Hosts Penn State Wednesday

March 04, 2025 | Women's Lacrosse

No. 12 Princeton (3-1, 0-0 Ivy) vs. Penn State (2-4, 0-0 Big Ten)
March 5 | 5:30 p.m.
ESPN+ | International Stream | Live Stats | Game Notes

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH PENN STATE
One of Princeton's longest-standing non-conference rivalries, the series with Penn State stands at 27-17 in favor of the Tigers dating back to the first meeting in 1982. Penn State won that game, and the first seven overall, before Princeton's first win in 1989. The Tigers have won four of the last five, including an 18-13 win last year in State College. McKenzie Blake scored five times in that game while adding eight draw controls, while Jami MacDonald had six points (3g, 3a) and Amelia Hughes made 10 stops in goal.

TIGERS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Princeton enters the weekend ranked No. 12 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll, No. 13 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine rankings and No. 13 in the KANE ILWomen.com Media Poll Looking down the line, Princeton is set to play six teams ranked in the preseason IWLCA Coaches Poll this season – No. 8 Virginia, No. 9 Yale, No. 12 Penn, No. 13 Stony Brook, No. 14 Loyola, No. 22 Penn State.

Princeton's 2025 record against teams ranked at the time in the IWLCA Coaches Poll is 1-1.

The Tigers were slotted No. 3 in the Preseason Ivy League Media Poll, receiving one first place vote.

PRINCETON RETURNS FOUR ALL-IVY SELECTIONS FROM 2024
The Tigers return four of their five All-Ivy selections from last season, led by Ivy League Goalkeeper of the Year Amelia Hughes and unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection McKenzie Blake. The Ivy League Goalkeeper of the Year award has been presented five times now, and a Princeton keeper has won it three times -- Sam Fish (2019, 2022) the other recipient. Haven Dora and Abigail Roberts were both named second-team All-Ivy – the first such honor for both players.

SHAKE AND BLAKE!
Senior McKenzie Blake was named a preseason USA Lacrosse All-American on the heels of a first-team All-Region 2024 season that saw her set career highs in goals (67), points (72) and draw controls (63). Her 67 goals last season were No. 3 all-time in a single season by a Tiger and her 72 points were tied for No. 9 all-time.

Last season in 18 games, Blake had 14 games with 3+ goals, 12 games with 4+ goals, and six games with five goals. Her scoring output ranked No. 1 in the Ivy League and No. 15 in the country, and she was No. 13 in the nation in goals-per-game (3.72).

Entering this week, Blake ranks No. 7 all-time in goals by a Princeton Tiger with 159. She is two away from tying Theresa Sherry '04 for the No. 6 spot and three away from tying Lisa Rebane '95 for No. 6. If Blake matches her output from last season – 67 goals – she will tie Kyla Sears for the program record for career goals which stands at 209.

Blake took on a larger role with the draw team last season, winning 63 – 6th-most in a single season by a Princeton player all-time – after winning 24 combined over her first two seasons. Blake was just the second player in program history to record 50 goals and 50 draw controls in the same season, joining Elizabeth George (62 goals, 88 draw controls) in 2019.

For her career, Blake has 95 draw controls, closing in on the 100 mark in that category as well.

DYNAMIC DUO
Haven Dora leads the country in assists-per-game at 5.25, and her 21 total assists are No. 3 in the nation. Her 6.5 points-per-game rank No. 3 in the country as well.

McKenzie Blake had been leading the country in goals-per-game before tallying one last weekend against Hofstra, but her blistering start overall still has her No. 6 in the country in goals-per-game (4.25)

Blake is also No. 7 in the nation in shots on goal-per-game (6.75) and No. 8 in shots-per-game (8.50).

HAVEN SENT!
Haven Dora was recovering from injury during most of her freshman season in 2023, but starting with the stretch run two years ago she has become a key part of Princeton's attack. Dating back to the end of 2023, she has 110 points (42g, 69a) over her last 26 games (4.2 ppg) with 3+ points in 21 of those games. That followed a seven-game start to her career where she did not record a point.

Over 18 games last season, Dora tallied 69 points on 29 goals and 40 assists – tying the program record for helpers in a single season set by Kyla Sears in 2019.

Her 2.2 assists-per-game last season ranked No. 5 in the Ivy League and No. 28 in the country and she is No. 3 in the conference and No. 23 nationally in total assists.

Add it all up, and Dora earned second-team All-Region and second-team All-Ivy honors for the first time in her career last year.

On Feb. 26, Dora dished out seven assists in Princeton's 15-14 win at Delaware, setting a new program-record for assists in a game. That record stood alone for all of three days before Dora matched it with seven more helpers on March 1 against Hofstra.

The 7 helpers from Dora against the Blue Hens are the most in a game by an Ivy Leaguer this season and T-4 by any player in the country. She is the only player in the nation with multiple 7+ assist games this season.

For her career, she now has 68 assists which is tied for No. 7 all-time by a Tiger -- she is 11 assists away from tying Colby Chanenchuk for the No. 6 spot and just 30 away from No. 1.

AMERICAN GIRL!
Haven Dora spent her summer vacation representing the United States at the U20 World Championships where she was part of Team USA en route to a gold medal. Dora had 29 points in the tournament – ranked No. 7 among all players – and her 23 assists were second-most in the tournament.

WATCH THIS!
McKenzie Blake and Haven Dora have been named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List ahead of the 2025 season. Blake is on the Watch List for the second time in her career, while Dora is among the candidates for national player of the year for the first time.

CANADA'S FINEST
Jami MacDonald also represented her country at the U20 World Championships, bringing home a silver medal from Hong Kong with Team Canada. MacDonald had a hat trick in the gold medal game, and led Canada in scoring with 35 points in the tournament. She had 25 total goals in the tournament, No. 8 among all players, and was named to the All-World Team at the conclusion of the tournament.

MACDONALD'S SERVING UP POINTS
Jami MacDonald posted a 42-point first year in 2023, scoring 24 goals and adding 18 assists. Her sophomore season rose above that pace as she was fourth on the Tigers in points with 55 (34 goals, 21 assists) and has matched her career high of three assists four different times.

She was at her best in the postseason last year, tallying six points (4g, 2a) in the Ivy League semifinals against Penn before accounting for seven points (3g, 4a) over Princeton's two NCAA Tournament games.

MacDonald had zero points in the opener, but has 14 over her last three games (11g, 3a) including the game-winner at Delaware with 0:10 to play. She enters this weekend with 111 career points (69g, 42a).

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
Junior goalkeeper Amelia Hughes has started every game of her collegiate career to date, playing 2,114 minutes. The 2024 Ivy League Goalkeeper of the Year and honorable mention Inside Lacrosse All-American, she led the Ivy League in saves (157) and saves-per-game (8.72) last season.

She has registered 10+ saves in 19 of her 38 games and has 13 games with a save percentage of .500 or better. 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.

A DANDY OF A SEASON DEBUT
The first game of 2025 saw McKenzie Blake pick up where she left off, scoring six times against Virginia to match her career high and earn Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week.

HELLO, MEG!
Meg Morrisroe's trip to Brown last season 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 were tied for the fourth most in a game by any player in the country and were the most by any first-year player in the country.

She had four goals on March 1 against Hofstra, and now has five goals in her last two games.

SOPHIE IS SO GOOD!
Senior Sophie Whiteway is a key cog on the defensive side of the midfield with 161 career draw controls, 32 caused turnovers and 42 ground balls in 55 career games played. She is also capable when called upon in the attacking third with 39 career goals and 47 total points. Her 161 career draw controls rank No. 4 all-time by a Tiger since the stat was first tracked officially in 1993 and she is 18 away from tying for the No. 3 spot.

NOT TOO SHABBY, ABBY!
Abigail Roberts moved to defense last year and was a revelation in the transition game for the Tigers. She had 46 draw controls for the Tigers last year, with 42 of them coming over her last 12 games -- including a 10-draw control game at Brown on April 13. Her 46 total draw controls ranked No. 2 on the team, and she led the Tigers with 23 caused turnovers last season. If needed, she can shoot as well with six career goals on seven career shots.

At Delaware on Feb 26, Roberts had eight draw controls and two caused turnovers. Her 16 draw controls overall lead the team.

KNOW THE NAME NINA
Senior Nina Montes has 65 points in 44 career games, scoring 52 times and adding 13 assists. She can score in bunches, with four career hat tricks.