Women's Lacrosse: Rivalry game with Hoyas next for Princeton

“The beginning of the game [vs. Columbia] was not too bad,” junior attacker Barb Previ said. “Then at the beginning of the second half, it just started pelting down hard balls of ice, almost like hail, but bigger ... We saw an enormous bolt of lightning right by the field and were ordered off the field.”

Thankfully for the Tigers, they have what Previ described as a “long, storied rivalry” with Georgetown that always yields “exciting, competitive games,” which should make focusing on the upcoming match much easier.

The two teams have met at least once a year since 1997. The Tigers own the all-time series lead at 10-6, including victories in the past two games. The last time Princeton and Georgetown met, overtime was needed as head coach Chris Sailer earned her 300th career win.

Sailer became the second coach in Division I history to break the 300 mark.

Both Princeton and Georgetown have not started the season as they had hoped, as neither has an overall record above .500. Still, both teams are ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation.

The Hoyas have suffered several defeats in the opening weeks of the season but still boast the No. 20 ranking while the Tigers enter the weekend at No. 13 after back-to-back losses to No. 9 Virginia and No. 10 Johns Hopkins.

While unsuccessful, Princeton’s exposure to some of the best teams in the nation has taught the Tigers some valuable lessons.

“We are looking to elevate our game,” senior goalie Erin Tochihara said. “We have learned and grown from our losses.”

“Every game is an opportunity for us to individually learn lessons on the field and to collectively gain confidence by realizing that we can compete with the best teams in the country,” Previ said.

Since the week’s practices were devoted to the game against Columbia, not much work has gone into preparing for Georgetown.

Senior attacker Lizzy Drumm admitted that the team has “yet to get the scout” on Georgetown while Tochihara noted they “have not thought about a game plan” yet.

All that practice has not gone to waste, however. Princeton has worked on developing its transition game to improve the flow between offense and defense.

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“We have been working on our fast and slow breaks off of the transition,” Drumm said. “We are a quick team, so we’ve been learning to utilize that quickness in order to capitalize off the transition.”

The Tigers’ ability to score off rushes will certainly be key this weekend, considering both teams are averaging over 10 goals per game.

Princeton plans to put aside the back-to-back losses and the incomplete game against Columbia as it tries to get its season back on track this Sunday at 1 p.m. The game, weather permitting, will be played at Princeton Stadium.