Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/27/19
From Press Releases
There are some five-goal runs that sting and there are some five-goal runs that can give you a warm feeling on a cold evening.
Just four days after being done in by giving up five straight goals in the final nine minutes in a loss at Virginia, the 14th-ranked Princeton women’s lacrosse team started its game against No. 8 Penn State with five straight in the first 10 minutes.
Tess D’Orsi scored five goals, all of which came in the first 17:55 of the game, while Elizabeth George had a five-goal, six-point, eight-draw-control, two-caused-turnover night. Kyla Sears had a seven-point game with three goals and a career-high four assists.
Freshman Maria Pansini (Agnes Irwin) – the Phillylacrosse.com Co-Player of the Year in 2018 – had her first career two-goal game, including the first of the day 1:59 in.
Princeton started quickly and then added a 6-0 run to that to sprint away from Penn State 21-10 on Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium Wednesday. The win improved the Tigers to 2-1 heading into Saturday’s Ivy League opener at home against Columbia, while Penn State lost for the first time in four games.
“We had some honest conversations over film and really worked hard these last couple of days,” said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer (Haverford High). “We knew we had to take control and play our game and not focus on who we were playing. We just had to play harder and smarter, and we did that today.”
The 21 goals were the most Princeton has scored in the 41 games it has played against Penn State, a series the Tigers now lead 25-16. The 11-goal margin of victory tied the most for the Tigers against the Nittany Lions.
With little time to dwell on the loss to UVa, a 14-9 setback that had been 9-9 with nine minutes to go, Princeton came out on fire. In fact, it was 5-0 after exactly 10 minutes, and it took Princeton just over 21 minutes to reach a 10-goal lead at 11-1 before it grew to 12-3 at the break.
“I think it was a demonstration of what we can do,” Sailer said. “To have that turnaround from a game where we didn’t look anything at all like ourselves to a dominant performance today and winning by 11 against Penn State, who’s always a great team, it’s exciting for our team. They saw what we’re capable of when we put it all together.”
Penn State scored the first two of the second half, getting goals 17 seconds apart less than two minutes after intermission, but Sailer called a timeout and her team responded with the next four. The game would get no closer after that.
Penn 15, Rutgers 5
Playing on the road for the third time in as many games to start the season, the 12th-ranked Quakers were too much for Rutgers to handle.
PENN NEWS AND NOTES
*Junior Gabby Rosenzweig led the offense with four goals on the night, adding in two assists for a total of six points. She now leads the team in goals and assists this season with nine each.
*A starter each game this year, sophomore Laura Crawford had a breakout performance with a hat trick, scoring on three of her four shots.
*Taylyn Stadler joined Crawford with three goals, the most this season for the freshman. She has scored in each game this season for Penn.
*Similarly, Michaela McMahon has scored each game this season to start her career, finishing with a goal and an assist against Rutgers.
*Mikaila Cheeseman earned the win in goal, posting nine saves in 48:50 minutes before freshman Krissy Kowalski entered in relief.
*Senior defender Katy Junior (Radnor) led the team with four ground balls. Erin Barry and Zoe Belodeau each had three. Junior also led the squad with two caused turnovers.
*Penn is now 11-10 all-time against the Scarlet Knights, as the Quakers have won six in a row against Rutgers.
*The win moves Penn to 3-0 for the third-straight season and fourth in the last five years.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was the Scarlet Knights scoring first following turnovers on each of the team’s opening possessions with 25:27 in the first half, but the home team’s lead would be short lived.
An apparent goal from Taylyn Stadler seemed to tie the game, but a late foul was called, wiping away the score for Penn. Penn wouldn’t be denied on its next possession however, as Zoe Belodeau wrapped around behind the goal and took it herself, knotting the game at one.
With two straight draw controls, Penn was dominating time of possession and shots, peppering the Rutgers goal, and it took another four minutes for the Quakers to take the lead as freshman Michaela McMahon jutted up the middle of the field and connected, giving Penn a 2-1 advantage with 16:54 in the half.
A quick draw control from McMahon regained control for the Quakers and just 15 seconds after her last goal, the Quakers scored again, this time on a feed from Rosenzweig to Laura Crawford.
Rutgers would cut the deficit to one on a ball that trickled past the goal line with 13:41 in the period, but that would be the last the home team would sniff the scoreboard in the opening half.
The Quakers would quickly respond with a tally from Bosco, and used stifling defense and one goal each from Rosenzweig and Belodeau to end the half, entering the break up 6-2.
It was all Penn from the opening draw of the second half, as the Quakers scored on their first chance of the period, with Stadler taking it herself to the back of the net.
The run would swell to 10-0 for the Quakers with Rosenzweig, Stadler and Crawford combining for the seven in a row in the second half for Penn. The Quakers controlled the field, earning draw controls or stymieing any chance of a Rutgers attack, forcing the battle into dangerous positions every time on offense.
