Women’s lacrosse defeats Columbia to claim fifth consecutive Ivy League title

The women’s lacrosse team defeated Columbia, 22–16, on April 28 to claim the Ivy League championship title. The win earned the team their fifth consecutive and fourteenth overall Ivy League title. As this season’s champions, the Tigers will host the Ivy League Tournament next weekend.

Though the Tigers came out on top, the Lions dominated the opening minutes of the match, posting six goals less than 10 minutes into the game and leading the Tigers by three goals. Princeton, however, took the lead at 9–6 after a timeout. The team held the lead at 12–9 as the half concluded.

Princeton widened its lead to 16–11 at the beginning of the second half of the match, but Columbia fired back with four goals to bring the tally to 16–15 with less than 15 minutes remaining in the game. Freshman midfield Kyla Sears responded with a goal, but Columbia’s Lindsey Ewertsen was quick to score soon afterward for the Lions.

Sophomore midfield Tess D’Orsi scored her 30th goal of the season with less than 10 minutes remaining in the match, kicking off a five-goal push by the Tigers to bring the final score to 22–16.

Junior midfield Elizabeth George and Sears led the team, each contributing six goals. George also had one assist, one ground ball, and one caused turnover, and she won four draws. Sears now has 53 total goals for the season, one of only six players to achieve this in one season.

D’Orsi tallied four goals and one assist, and senior midfield Ellie McNulty scored one goal and won three draws. Junior attack Allie Rogers scored twice and contributed one assist, senior midfield and captain Camille Sullivan scored twice and won five draws, and freshman goalie Sam Fish anchored the team with 12 saves.

This victory was especially meaningful for the team’s senior class, which has now held the Ivy League title for four consecutive years. Defending the title was only one of the team’s goals for this season. Senior attack Colby Chanenchuk and McNulty both regard a deep run into the NCAA Championship as another important goal for the team.

McNulty said, “Our team has high goals for this season which include an Ivy League championship, Final Four appearance, and National Championship.”

Regarding last year’s final match, Chanenchuk said, “Last year we just missed the Final Four in the tournament after a hard-fought game with Penn State. Our team desperately wants redemption and another chance to make it to the Final Four.”

The team, however, first has to secure a bid with a first-place finish in the Ivy League Tournament. To kick off the tournament, No. 2 Penn and No. 3 Dartmouth will face off at 4 p.m., and No. 1 Princeton will take on No. 4 Columbia in a rematch scheduled for next Friday at 7 p.m.