Tiger trouble: No. 7 Penn women’s lacrosse falls to No. 18 Princeton 14-9

Another week, another ranked opponent. After No. 7 Penn women’s lacrosse toppled then No. 1 Maryland last Wednesday, the Quakers retook the field for an equally intense matchup against archrivals No. 18 Princeton.

Playing against its fourth consecutive ranked opponent and fifth of the season, Penn saw its winning streak in Ivy League play end at 11 with a 14-9 loss to Princeton (6-3, 2-1 Ivy). 

“Princeton outplayed us,” coach Karin Corbett said. “They came to play. They were hungrier than us. They had a good game plan.”

Despite starting the game off hot, Penn (8-2, 2-1 Ivy) struggled for most of the game to get any sort of rhythm going on offense. After junior attacker Erika Chung put the Quakers on the scoresheet first, the Red and Blue’s first quarter was mostly underscored by turnovers — many of which were unforced. In the first quarter alone, Penn recorded nine turnovers. 

The Quaker defense, which is currently ranked second in the nation, operated in its typical zone coverage that was able to stall the Terps from last week, but struggled immensely with the blitz style of attack employed by the Tigers. Still, individual efforts from senior attacker Niki Miles and junior midfielder Anna Brandt kept Penn alive. 

The game also featured uncharacteristically long scoring droughts for the Red and Blue. After senior attacker Julia Chai scored in a woman-up opportunity with over eight minutes to play in the first quarter, the sticks went cold for Penn. It wasn’t until nearly 13 minutes later when the Quakers were finally able to put one past goaltender Amelia Hughes with Miles recording her second of the game. In that same time frame, the Tigers had managed to score twice to tie the game up heading into the second quarter. 

Up by just one goal with just under two minutes to play until the halftime break, in a play that ultimately marked a momentum shift, Penn was unable to convert its possession into a goal, giving the ball back to Princeton with 20 seconds left. Barely beating the game clock, midfielder Kari Buonanno was able to sneak the ball past senior goalkeeper Kelly Van Hoesen to tie the game up and give the Tigers the momentum heading into the locker rooms. 

The Tigers held onto this momentum and did not let go as the second half of the game got underway. After winning the draw, Van Hoesen was able to get the stop on a free position. But those efforts were ultimately meaningless, as Penn proceeded to turn the ball over, and attacker Haven Dora scored her third of the game to give Princeton its first lead of the night. Dora finished the game with a career-high seven points and three goals. 

“I thought they moved the ball really well,” Corbett said. “We made some mistakes and left some open kids and they capitalized on that very well. It just didn't seem like we were all on the same page — all eight of our defenders.”

When the Quakers finally seemed to piece things together on the defensive end, the team struggled to play as a unit on offense. Penn finished the game with 41 shots, yet was only able to convert nine of those. Heading into the fourth quarter, Princeton touted a well-earned two-goal lead. That lead could have been larger, but attacker McKenzie Blake unfortunately saw her shot go off the pipe in the tail end of the third quarter. 

To close the game out, the Tigers were relentless, scoring off an eight-meter to make their lead three. While the Penn defense struggled on the day, it wasn’t aided by the team’s inability to convert offensive possessions to points on the other side of the field. The team’s second 13-minute scoreless drought of the game, which spanned most of the third quarter, was finally broken with Brandt’s third goal of the night. The proverbial death knell for the team’s undefeated run through the conference came with just over nine minutes to play when Miles uncharacteristically missed on back-to-back free position opportunities.

From there, Blake scored her fifth of the game to give the Tigers a four-goal cushion that more than sealed the deal for Princeton. The 14-goal performance from the Tigers marks only the second time this season that the Quakers have conceded more than 10 goals to a team — the only other time coming against then-ranked No. 9 John’s Hopkins in a narrow win — and is the widest margin of defeat that Penn has faced since losing by eight to Loyola Maryland over a year ago. 

“I felt defensively we struggled,” Corbett said. “We just didn't play up to our potential and it was frustrating because it's Princeton and it's in the league, but Princeton deserves this. They played better than us tonight.”

Since 2006, a share of the Ivy League title has been won by at least one of Penn and Princeton every season. Currently, both teams are poised to continue this streak by winning out in conference play. However, with the loss, Penn’s next opponent Yale sits alone atop the Ivy League rankings, having won its first three conference games. 

For now, the Quakers will have a few days to recuperate before they travel up to New Haven, CT to take on the Bulldogs on April 7th at 4 p.m. The team will be looking to keep its chances of repeating as Ivy League champions alive in the Saturday afternoon affair. 

“We have to bounce back from this game,” Corbett said. “We have to come to compete, the championship is on the line. They're undefeated and they're good, and we've got to play to our ability. We have shown that we can play with the best and we've got to be more consistent with that.”