Winning In The Rain

The Princeton men's lacrosse program began in the 1880s, took a break from 1894 through 1921 and then has been around since.

In all that time, there have been 15 players who have reached 100 career goals. The most recent was Coulter Mackesy, who did so against Harvard two weeks ago.

The Princeton women's lacrosse program has been around since the early 1970s. Last night, in a big 14-9 win over Penn, McKenzie Blake became the 25th 100-goal scorer in program history.  Like Mackesy, Blake reached the 100 mark as a junior.

Also like Mackesy, Blake got there on a cold, rainy day. For the Princeton women's lacrosse team this year, that has been pretty much the standard.

Five times the Tigers have played at home. Five times it has rained.

Last night's game against Penn was even delayed by a bit of lightning. That's a first this year. 

There have been two lacrosse games in two nights on Sherrerd Field. When the schedule was announced, you could have been forgiven for thinking that these two games on April 2 and April 3 would be played on gentle spring evenings. 

Hah. Far from it. There was rain. There was cold. There was wind. It was unpleasant in many ways — except the results. 

For the men, it was an important 12-10 win over Lehigh. For the women? It was huge. It was easily the biggest win to date for second-year head coach Jenn Cook.

Penn came into the game with a record of 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League. The Quakers had most recently taken down Maryland 13-9. Where were the Terps ranked at the time? How about No. 1?

The Quakers were ranked seventh this week. Princeton was ranked 18th and had split its first two Ivy League games. 

Ah, but as former The College of New Jersey men's basketball coach and longtime TB favorite Donnie Marsh always said: "Anyone can win a big game. The hardest thing to do is win the game after the big game."

Is that what happened to Penn? Were the Quakers also looking ahead to a game at Yale Saturday? The Bulldogs defeated Princeton earlier this season and were the last unbeaten team in Division I until a 16-8 setback to Boston College this past weekend. 

Could Penn actually be looking past Princeton? No chance. Do not even think about saying that.

Princeton, after all, is the standard by which Ivy League women's lacrosse teams are judged. And Penn-Princeton? Yeah, no. This one had Penn's full attention.

Blake's accomplishment came early in the game. Perhaps the biggest moment came as time was running out in the first half, when Kari Buonanno scored to tie it at the break. 

That goal gave the Tigers the momentum. Princeton scored first in the second half and never trailed again. 

The MVP of the night? There were lots of choices.

Blake came in with 99 goals and came out with 104 after her five-goal evening. Haven Dora had a seven-point night with three goals and four assists.

The defense was excellent all night, holding Penn well below its 13-goal average. The Player of the Game, though, might have been sophomore goalie Amelia Hughes, who made 11 big saves on the night against the powerful Quakers. 

Princeton, suddenly, is 2-1 in the league, tied with Penn, Harvard and Cornell and with wins over the Quakers and Big Red. Yale sits alone on the top at 3-0, which makes it clear which team Princeton is rooting for Saturday in New Haven. 

The end of the game saw the Tigers swarm their goalie, but this was more than just a key mid-season win. 

This was a team that is learning to win and looking to take its place in the great history of Princeton women's lacrosse. There's no telling how important this win will be for the Tigers as they move forward, which for them means four more league games (at Columbia this Saturday and later on at Brown, home against Dartmouth and at Harvard) and two more non-league games (at Loyola and home against Maryland).

Will the weather improve for the Princeton women? It has to, right?

It may have been brutal last night on Sherrerd Field, but when it was over, the sun was shining on the Tigers.