PRINCETON, N.J. (4/1/09) – As impressive as it may seem to put up 30 goals in a two-game span, it's almost expected from a Princeton women's lacrosse team. The last time it happened ... just last year. When was the last time a freshman scored five goals in a game? Last year. Lizzy Drumm had five against Cornell.

No. 7/5 Princeton continued to express its prowess with a 15-5 win over Columbia on Wednesday, April 1 at Class of 1952 Stadium to improve to 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League. If you think those records are impressive, try 12-0. That's what the Tigers' record is against Columbia in the all-time series.

Seven Tigers made their way into the scoring column, led by freshman Cassie Pyle, who had a break-out game, scoring five goals. Senior Holly McGarvie followed up with two goals and two assists, while classmate Kristin Schwab scored three goals. Other players with multiple points include junior Kristin Morrison and senior Anne Murray with two points apiece. Sophomore goalie Erin Tochihara made five saves in her sixth straight win.

The teams traded goals in the first five minutes, with senior Christine Casaceli getting things started with a free-position goal at 27:15. Columbia answered when Rachael Ryan picked up a Holly Glynn pass at the near post and found the net at 24:03. The rest of the first half belonged to the Tigers, as Princeton went on to score five goals, to take a 6-1 at the break.

Glynn, the Lions' leading scorer, wouldn't be much help to her team in the second half, as she received her second yellow card with just under two minutes to play in the first half and was disqualified.

Pyle nailed her hat trick just 52 seconds into the second session. Roughly 13 minutes later, Princeton was up 9-2 with Pyle's fourth goal of the game.

Columbia tried to stage a comeback scoring three goals in five minutes to make it a four-goal game, 9-5, with 11:38 to play.

The Tigers' timeout proved to be effective as Princeton closed out the game six straight scores for the 10-goal victory.

Princeton outshot Columbia 32-18, had an 18-5 advantage in draw controls and won the ground ball battle, 18-17. The Tigers went 2-for-3 on free-position shots, while the Lions were 0-for-5. Two were stopped by Tochihara, two hit the post and one went wide.

Princeton will travel to Yale on Saturday, April 4 for a 2:00 p.m., game.

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PRINCETON, N.J. – Down 9-5 with 11:38 remaining in the game, the seventh-ranked Princeton Tigers used a late surge to defeat Columbia 15-5 on Wednesday, April 1.

Six minutes into the game, Holly Glynn connected with Rachael Ryan to even the score at 1-1. After Princeton went ahead on a goal by Sarah Steele, the two teams battled back-and-forth for 13 minutes of action, with neither team able to convert. During that span, senior goalie Emma Mintz made three key saves to keep the game close.

The Tigers found their rhythm and scored three unanswered goals over a two minute span and added one more with 10 seconds remaining to take a 6-1 lead into the break.

Columbia was able to cut Princeton's lead to four (9-5) with a three-goal run midway through the second half. Megan Donovan fired one past Princeton's Erin Tochihara before Brittany Shannon had back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart prompting a Princeton timeout.

The Tigers (8-1, 2-0) went on to score six unanswered goals to close out the game. Pyle Cassie led all scorers with five goals, while Holly McGarvie finished with two goals and two assists.

Shannon led Columbia with two goals and two ground balls. Mintz finished with eight saves, including six in the first half, to go along with four ground balls.

The Lions (5-4, 0-3) travel to Providence, R.I. to take on Brown this Saturday, April 4 at noon.

2009-04-02