New-look women's lacrosse to be tested by No. 9 Loyola

The offense spurted out like mustard from a plastic container, starting smooth, then squirting out in bits and bursts that resulted in a messy but satisfying end. In its season-opener at Rutgers last Sunday, the women's lacrosse team squandered a commanding 9-3 lead in the second half, but emerged with a 9-7 victory intact.

Scrimmaging against national powerhouse James Madison — currently ranked No. 3 in the nation — two weeks ago, the Tigers (1-0) eked out a 11-9 win, avenging a loss three years ago that still stung for the seniors.

Although only one will count in the record books, the No. 8 Tigers have felt their way through their first two games, and with a minimum of stumbles, have explored the potent possibilities in a team that is radically different from years' past.

There is no Cristi Samaras '99 on offense. Three members of the last year's starting defense are gone. Nine seniors graduated.

After exploiting the spectacular talents of individual players — who could scurry downfield and create shots for themselves on offense, while staking out and smothering opposing players on defense — the Tigers are now learning to spread the ball around. So far, the new system seems to be working.

"I think that the wins were really encouraging for people because we have been doing so much training and haven't been able to test it," senior defenseman Molly Hall said. "We're really excited—we have a whole new look to us this year. We have a different style on our defense that's more aggressive, more team-oriented than working on a one v. one."

By increasing the use of double teams on defense, the Tigers are trying to force challenges and pressure opposing teams into committing mental mistakes or mishandling the ball. But it is a potentially perilous strategy, because it relies on every member of the defensive unit being constantly aware of everyone else. If one player falters, someone else must slip in immediately to assume her place.

On offense, they have concentrated on maintaining possession of the ball, controlling the pace of the game and confusing defenses by presenting an array of attackers, all capable of scoring, all with plays planned for them.

In each of their two games thus far, five different players have scored.

"I think that we're really pretty young," sophomore attack Lauren Simone, who netted four goals and chipped in two assists against Rutgers, said. "We don't have that many experienced players out on the field. The biggest thing this year is that we have a lot of multi-faceted players who can do a lot of good things — everyone in our attack is capable of challenging, passing and shooting. Everybody is a threat."

Employing this versatility — and ensuring that it continues throughout a full game — will be crucial in compensating for the loss of Samaras, the leading scorer in Princeton women's lacrosse history. At the end of the uneven effort against Rutgers, players wandered down to the post-game meeting to dissect the mental lapses, remark on their improved fitness — the result of intensified workouts — and relish their spotless record.

"I think in the Rutgers game we went out really strong but at the end of each half we just let up our guard and they just snuck back into the game," Simone said. "After that game we realized we need to maintain the same tempo throughout the entire game."

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Princeton will be able to test that new resolve against No. 9 Loyola on Sunday in Baltimore, Md. The Tigers bumped the Greyhounds — who will suffer this year from the loss of their leading scorer Kathleen O'Shea and top defenseman Chelsea Morley to graduation — out of the No. 8 spot with the win against Rutgers. Princeton will also be playing host to Georgetown and Duke on Mar. 15 and Mar. 18, respectively.