Women's Lacrosse: Brown visits Princeton Stadium to kick off Ivy League play

“We really struggled on the defensive end, handling the clumps, denying the cuts and in general dictating the game,” head coach Chris Sailer said. “When we got down early, we played panicked and had difficulty executing basic skills in transition. Staying calm and passing the ball cleanly will be critical on Saturday.”

The Tigers have fared well against the Bears (3-1, 1-0) in recent history, claiming victory in the last 20 meetings. While Princeton has handled Brown with ease in the past, this year’s Brown team is beginning to look like an offensive powerhouse that can pose a serious threat to the Princeton defense. The Bears are second in the Ivy League in goals per game, with 14.75, and first in shots per game, with 34.25. The Tigers have been preparing for the tough Bear offense, making defense their top priority in practice.

“We’ve really been focusing on our defense this week,” senior goalie and tri-captain Erin Tochihara said. “We want our defense to become a tight, cohesive unit that works together well. Communication has been a big focus on the defensive end.”

The matchup will feature a slew of offensive stars. The Brown offense is led by freshman attacker Bre Hudgins and junior attacker Kaela McGilloway. Both are tied for second in the Ivy League with 3.25 goals per game, and McGilloway was recently named Ivy League co-Offensive Player of the Week.

McGilloway will face off against her counterpart in orange and black, senior attacker and tri-captain Lizzy Drumm. Drumm, the other Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, typically provides much of the firepower for Princeton’s offense. She is tied for seventh in the Ivy League with 2.67 goals per game and netted a career-high six goals against Duke.

Performances such as the one Drumm turned in against Duke are always helpful, but as illustrated by the team’s loss, sometimes such efforts are not enough.

“More than any one individual player, we’ll need a solid team effort both offensively and defensively,” Sailer said. “We’ll be counting on Toch to have a solid game in the cage, but all over the field we need every one of our players to step up, play with confidence and poise, to see the field and make good reads.”

After the battle against Brown, the Tigers will take a short road trip to face No. 7 University of Virginia and No. 10 James Madison University, both of which are sure to be challenging matchups. Last year, the Dukes (4-0) edged out the Tigers in double overtime for a 13-12 victory. The Cavaliers (3-2) proved a formidable opponent as well, taking out the Tigers 14-7. For now, though, the Tigers are not thinking too far ahead, and their minds are focused on beating the Bears.

“We focus on one game at a time, so for now we aren’t thinking about UVA or JMU,” Sailer said. “But rather, we’re focused on improving our play on the field and getting off to a good start in our Ivy opener.”

Despite the loss last week against Duke, the team appears confident that it will redeem itself against Brown in pursuit of its first Ivy League win of the year.

“We have been working really hard in practice this week to correct the mistakes we made in the Duke game and prepare ourselves for Brown,” Drumm said. “I think we will all come out on fire on Saturday, especially since it’s our first Ivy League game.”