Women's Lacrosse Opens NCAA Tournament Friday Against UMass In Baltimore

Princeton (14-3, 6-1 Ivy) vs. Massachusetts (15-3, 10-0 Atlantic 10)
May 9 | 5 p.m.
ESPN+ | Live Stats | Game Notes | Postseason Central

IVY CHAMPIONS!
For the 17th time in program history, Princeton is Ivy League champion after posting a 6-1 record in Ivy play and winning an outright Ivy League regular season title.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH MASSACHUSETTS
Princeton and Yale have met twice previously, both times in the NCAA Tournament. UMass won the first-ever meeting, a 13-12 victory in overtime of the NCAA First Round in a game played at Cornell in 2016. Six years later, the two teams met again in the NCAA First Round, a 15-9 Princeton win at Sherrerd Field. In the last meeting, the Tigers jumped out to a 5-1 lead and then built a 10-5 halftime lead en route to the victory. Princeton's current group of seniors were first-year players during that 2022 season, with McKenzie Blake (1 goal), Sophie Whiteway (3 draw controls, 2 caused turnovers, 2 ground balls) and Nina Montes (2 ground balls and 1 caused turnover) seeing game action.

TIGERS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Princeton enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 8 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll.

Princeton's 2025 record against teams ranked at the time in the IWLCA Coaches Poll is 6-3.

The Tigers were slotted No. 3 in the Preseason Ivy League Media Poll, receiving one first place vote, but went on to win an outright Ivy League championship.

CAN'T SPELL PRINCETON WITHOUT RPI
Despite entering the NCAA Tournament unseeded, Princeton slots in at No. 4 in the RPI, leading a group of seven Ivy League teams inside the Top-31. 15 of Princeton's 17 games this season have come against teams currently inside the RPI Top-40.

PRINCETON AGAINST THE FIELD
The Tigers have played eight games against opponents in the NCAA Tournament field, and are 5-3 in those games with wins over #7 seed Yale, Loyola, Stony Brook and Brown (twice) and losses to #5 seed Virginia, #7 seed Yale and Penn.

If Princeton were to advance to Sunday's second round, they are 7-2 all-time against Johns Hopkins -- but the two teams have not met since 2013. The Tigers have never played Liberty.

BALL CONTROL
Princeton has protected the rock through 17 games, committing 187 total turnovers and ranking No. 3 in the country in turnovers-per-game (11.0) -- trailing only Florida (10.0 and Yale (10.8).

SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS!
Everybody is getting shots up for the Tigers who rank No. 6 in the nation in shots-per-game (35.3) and the lead the Ivy League. No. 1 in the nation in shots-per-game? That would be the opponent in the first round, UMass (37.2).

STREAKING IS ENCOURAGED
Princeton's 11-game win streak this season was Princeton's longest since the 2019 team won 11 from 4/2-5/12.

28: 4/19/2003-5/21/2004
20: 3/6/2002-3/5/2003
14: 3/17/1994-4/30/1994
11: 2/23/2025-4/16/2025
11: 4/2/2019-5/12/2019
11: 3/15/2000-4/19/2000
11: 3/20/1996-4/24/1996

FOOT ON THE GAS
Princeton ranks No. 11 in the country in Scoring Offense, averaging 15.4 goals-per-game. The Tigers have been dominant in first quarters, outscoring opponents by a 66-46 margin in the opening period (+20). The second quarters have been even better as the Tigers own a +25 margin (69-44) and the third quarter is where Princeton has really shined, outscoring opponents 74-44 (+30).

AMONG THE ACTIVE LEADERS
Senior McKenzie Blake's 213 career goals rank her No. 5 among active NCAA players. She trails only BC's Rachel Clark (296), BC's Emma Lopinto (251), Loyola's Chase Boyle (240) and Northwestern's Madison Taylor (225). Amelia Hughes enters the week with 9.3 saves-per-game over her career which ranks No. 5 among active D1 keepes and her 472 career saves rank No. 10 among active NCAA D1 goalies.

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).

Last Friday night in the Ivy League semifinals, Blake scored five times to become Princeton's all-time leader in career goals. She surpassed Kyla Sears '22 (209) and now has 215.

Blake also ranks No. 4 all-time in points by a Princeton player with 245 -- she is 25 away from the No. 3 spot.

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 131 draw controls, No. 6 all-time by a Tiger.

Blake is one of just two players in program history to be Top-10 all-time in points and draw controls alongside Theresa Sherry '04 who is 9th in draws and 10th in points.

SHE LIKES GOALS!
McKenzie Blake enters this week with goals in each of her last 34 games covering the entire 2024 season and each game this year. Over that stretch here's the breakdown.
• She has 2+ goals in 32 of 35 games
• She has 3+ goals in 26 of 35 games
• She has 4+ goals in 22 of 35 games
• She has 5+ goals in 15 of 35 games
• She has 6+ goals in 6 of 35 games (all in 2025)

For her career, Blake has scored at least one goal in 67 of 69 games played.

DYNAMIC DUO
McKenzie Blake is No. 4 in the country in goals-per-game (4.3) and is No. 6 in total goals (73).

Haven Dora is No. 8 in the country in assists-per-game (3.0), and her 51 total assists are No. 11 in the nation.

Blake is also No. 5 in the nation in shots on goal-per-game (6.6) and No. 3 in shots-per-game (9.2).

TERRIFIC TRIO
McKenzie Blake (No. 23; 4.7), Jami MacDonald (No. 29; 4.5) and Haven Dora (No. 32; 4.5) give Princeton three of the Top-31 scorers in the country in terms of points-per-game -- Princeton is one of three teams in the nation with three players inside the Top 30 in points-per-game (Boston College, Furman).

INCHING UP THE IVY RANKS
Not only are the Princeton record books undergoing revisions, so is the Ivy League's.

McKenzie Blake's 215 goals make her only the fourth player in Ivy League history to reach the 200-goal mark alongside Harvard's Francesca DenHartog (249; 1980-83), Princeton's Kyla Sears (209; 2018-22) and Yale's Jenna Collignon (205; 2022-25).

Sophie Whiteway's 221 career draw controls rank No. 6 in the listed Ivy League record books.

Haven Dora's 51 assists this season rank No. 5 in a season by an Ivy Leaguer.

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 160 points (62g, 98a) over her last 39 games (4.1 ppg) with 3+ points in 30 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 was 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 in two games have her tied for No. 9 in a game nationally this year. She is one of three players in the nation with multiple 7+ assist games (Ashley Humphrey, UNC and Alexa Capozzoli, Saint Joseph's).

For her career, she now has 98 assists which is tied for the most all-time by a Tiger alongside Kyla Sears '22.

Against Stony Brook on April 9, Dora dished out six assists to break the program's single season record for assists which had stood at 40 and been down twice (Dora in 2024 and Kyla Sears in 2019). Dora's 51 assists this season rank No. 5 in a season all-time by an Ivy League player and she is creeping up on the Ivy record of 63 set in 2019 by Penn's Gabby Rosenzweig.

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 2025 opener, but has 77 over her last 16 games (49g, 28a, 4.8 ppg) including the game-winner at Delaware with 0:10 to play. She enters this weekend with 174 career points (107g, 67a).

A month ago, MacDonald had 16 points over two games -- including 10 points (5g, 5a) against Harvard to factor in on 50% of Princeton's scoring. The 10 points tied Princeton's single-game record and were the most in a game since 1989. For her efforts, she was named IWLCA Division I and Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week.

Her 10 points in a game this season vs. #22 Harvard are the most by any Ivy player and tied for No. 10 overall in the country -- and most by any player against a ranked opponent.

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. For the record, his most points in a game was nine.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results