NCAA women's lacrosse tournament has started.
The Princeton Tigers faced Umass yesterday from class of 1952 stadium in Princeton. The turnout was great with their fans and showed support as they watched the Tigers knock off UMass 15-9. The win advances Princeton into the next round of the NCAA Tournament, where they will play Syracuse.
In the beginning of the game, both teams were locked in with the defense starting off strong, getting the feel of each other and making each other earn their shots. The scoring started to pick up for the Tigers, as they were able to get a good lead over UMass midway thru the game.
Frequent timeouts were called to get the teams focused and back on track. UMass defense started to let up, as the Minutemen were a little out of sync in the second quarter.
The second half for both teams was a struggle to get goals. No one scored for a while but eventually UMass scored a few to keep it close with the Tigers. There were a couple of penalty cards that were handed out to the players, which disrupted the flow of the game. UMass players Sammy Helgeson had a yellow card with 3:20 in the first quarter. Hannah Heller yellow card 28 seconds left first quarter and one in the fourth quarter with 14:12.
Kyla Sears from Princeton had a yellow card with 18 seconds left in the third quarter
UMass head coach Angela McMahon-Serpone tried to switch it up and make a run against Princeton, but it was too late for them. Princeton's defense was great throughout the game and never let up towards the end. It was a four-goal lead for the Tigers heading into the last quarter where they scored three and UMass scored one with the final score 15-9.
Princeton Player spotlight
The star of the game goes to number 7 Kyla Sears who had four goals and one assist for the Tigers. Sears and head coach Chris Sailer talked about the win and how it feels to advance in the NCAA Tournament.
"Just a lot of excitement," Sears said about the 15-9 win over UMass. "It's time to survive and advance, so we're very fortunate to have another game on Sunday."
"Just really happy that we get to play on 52 field again and continue our NCAA journey and keep dancing," Sailer said.
Sears and Sailer also discussed how the atmosphere at the Class of 1952 Stadium helped propel them to victory.
"I think they always show out for us," Sears said about the fans. "There's really nothing like a game under the lights at 52."
"I think our fans bring so much energy and so much support," Sailer said. "Student-athletes from other teams, especially the football team, I mean they come out every game and today they were all decked out in orange."
Princeton will now face the Orange in the next round of the NCAA Tournament live from Class of 1952 Stadium at the Princeton university Sunday May 15th at 12:00 Pm eastern.
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