UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.--Princeton came back from an early three-goal deficit, used a three-goal run of its own in the second half to take control and then held on for a 7-6 win over Penn State in a women's lacrosse game played at Bigler Field Saturday afternoon.

The third-ranked Tigers (4-0) trailed 3-0 halfway through the first half, but recovered to tie the game at halftime thanks to Lizzy Drumm's goal with three minutes left. Princeton then fell behind again early in the second half, but then clamped down defensively and went ahead for good on Katie Lewis-Lamonica's eight-meter shot midway through the second half.

Holly McGarvie tied the game at 5-5 for Princeton with 17 minutes left, followed by Lewis-Lamonica's go-ahead goal two minutes later. The Tigers then got insurance after that from sophomore Kaitlin Donovan, who came off the bench to score a huge goal with seven minutes left to give her team a two-goal lead.

Mariel Bryan scored on a free-position shot for No. 19 Penn State (2-3) to pull her team within 7-6 with four minutes left, but the Nittany Lions could not get the equalizer.

Lewis-Lamonica, McGarvie and Drumm each scored two goals for Princeton, which won at Penn State for the ninth straight visit to Happy Valley. Freshman Erin Tochihara came off the bench in the second half to record three saves for the Tigers, and the Princeton defense limited the Nittany Lions to just 12 shots overall and five in the second half.

Princeton also won 18 ground balls to just nine for the Nittany Lions, who scored just three times in the final 45 minutes of the game as Princeton came back. Down 3-0 after Penn State's Laura Lesnick scored on an eight-meter shot with 14:52 left in the first half, Princeton set about on its comeback. Drumm scored just 1:48 later to get the Tigers on the board for the first time, and Lewis-Lamonica then drove the goal and scored with 9:21 on the clock to make it 3-2 PSU.

The Nittany Lions went back ahead by two goals three minutes later, but McGarvie and Drumm then scored within a minute of each other to tie the game at 4-4 at halftime. The Tigers had lost to Penn State by a goal, 8-7, last season at Class of 1952 Stadium. Princeton has now won 17 of the last 21 meetings in the series.

Princeton, 4-0 for the first time since 2004, hosts James Madison Wednesday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium.

2008-03-15