Women's Lacrosse: Pyle tallies 7 points in blowout home victory

The victory marked Princeton’s final league game of the season. The team currently sits in fourth place entering the postseason conference tournament starting on May 7. Every player on the Tiger squad saw some action on the field on Wednesday night and several players helped contribute to the team’s success.

“It was great to get another Ivy win,” head coach Chris Sailer said. “Everyone got in tonight, which we love. The starters wanted to get a good lead early on so that everyone could play.”

Right from the start, the Tigers dominated the scoring. Five unanswered goals in the first 10 minutes gave the hosts an early lead that they never relinquished.

Junior midfielder Cassie Pyle, recently named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week, earned her first of seven points to open the scoring with a one-on-one dodge from the top of the eight-meter arc. The next goal was the combined effort of freshman midfielder Sarah Lloyd and senior attacker Lizzy Drumm. Lloyd fed the veteran cutting around the crease to put the Tigers ahead by two.

Princeton continued to dominate possession of the ball all over the field. Pyle tallied her first assist with a pass to sophomore attacker Jaci Gassaway, who was waiting on the crease for a quick finish. A huge force on the attack last night, Pyle struck again after outrunning her defender with a quick dodge along the edge of the fan.

Sophomore midfielder Charlotte Davis’ hard shot following a drive from the top finished Princeton’s opening five-goal run.

Columbia did not get onto the scoreboard until the 12th minute of the game. Junior attacker Barb Previ earned a hat trick in a span of just two and a half minutes, however, extending the Tigers’ lead to 8-1.

The scoring in the remainder of the first half was more balanced between the two teams, with Princeton adding four and Columbia connecting for five. The final goal of the half came when sophomore attacker Sam Ellis scored off of a spin dodge, sending the teams into the locker room with the Tigers ahead 12-6.

“We executed pretty well,” Sailer said. “We played aggressively on defense sporadically. We started well, let up a little and then got it back. We did a nice job challenging Columbia by moving the ball well on offense. Last time we let Columbia control the pace of the game and win the ground balls and draws. This time it was more even.”

Each team tallied 15 draw controls, while Princeton had a 18-16 advantage in ground balls and a 24-22 edge in shots on goal.

Princeton started the second half strong, striking for the first two goals widen its lead. Columbia was attempting to clear the ball out of their defensive end when Lloyd intercepted a pass and sent a quick pass to Ellis who finished it. Twenty seconds later, Pyle was awarded a free position shot, and when the whistle blew she passed to Gassaway on the weak side for another goal.

Columbia responded with a goal a few minutes later before two Princeton players were awarded yellow cards, causing the Tigers to play shorthanded for several minutes. However, the Tigers successfully prevented the Lions from taking advantage of this opportunity. Princeton then netted the next three goals of the game, extending the lead to double digits.

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The Lions mounted a small comeback late in the game with three unanswered goals, but Princeton made the final mark on the game. Drumm completed her hat trick with under three minutes to go after the Tigers grabbed the draw and quickly transitioned the ball up the field. Senior goalie Erin Tochihara had 11 saves on the night and freshman goaltender Caroline Franke, in her first career appearance, tallied one save.

“We shot well tonight and had a lot of nice offensive series,” said Sailer. “We battled hard on the 50-50 balls which is going to be critical against Penn State. We played better team D tonight, too. Our goal is to create more turnovers and to send our slides more aggressively. The plan is to focus on the little things in the upcoming games.”

Four Tigers finished with three goals apiece: Pyle, Previ, Drumm and Ellis.

Princeton finishes out its regular season at home on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Penn State.