April 21, 2008

by Matt DaSilva, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Princeton got the short end of the stick Saturday.

If there was one year you thought you could take the Tigers' women's lacrosse rivalry with Dartmouth for granted, surely this was it. Before last week, No. 2-ranked Princeton was one of just two unbeaten teams (No. 1 Northwestern being the other) in Division I, while the Big Green had stumbled to a 5-7 start.

Then, pop, down went Katie Lewis-Lamonica. The senior All-American and player of the year candidate who has at times carried the Tigers tore an anterior cruciate ligament April 5 in a 9-6 win over Yale.

A week later, Kristen Schwab, Princeton's best threat off the draw, suffered a severe ankle sprain in an 18-9 win at Harvard.

And then last Wednesday, starting defender Marine Graham tore her ACL five minutes into the Tigers' game at Penn, which the Quakers won, 9-5, to deny Princeton an Ivy League championship.

"We have to believe we can win with the group we have," said Tigers head coach Chris Sailer.

But even Princeton's conviction Saturday, as it mounted a furious comeback to erase a four-goal deficit in the game's final six minutes, was not enough against its archrival. In an odd turn of events, officials overturned Ashley Amo's apparent game-tying goal with 1:20 remaining due to an illegal stick.

"In the first half, [Amo] was down in front of our bench, and I definitely noticed her stick looked like it had a pocket. I tucked that in the back of my mind," said Big Green head coach Amy Patton. "It's all part of the game. You know what I mean?"

Although the NCAA stipulates that officials perform an equipment check on all players prior to games, a pulled string here and shoddy tape job there can cause a stick to become illegal unbeknownst to its owner.

"It's a legal move. It's a smart move," Sailer said of Dartmouth's request to inspect Amo's stick. "Some say that's a terrible way to win, but it's within the rules and it's certainly the right call to make. They allow you to call for a stick check, and that's when people call for them."

A deeper pocket likely did not affect the goal in question, as Amo was wide open in front of the cage on the back end of a free-position set-up. Sailer said Virginia attempted the same move when the teams played March 22, but Christine Casaceli's game-winning goal with 2.7 seconds remaining was upheld after a stick inspection, and Princeton won, 8-7.

Whether you appreciate the gamesmanship or not, it was high drama at its best, as can only play out when Dartmouth plays Princeton.

Good news for the Tigers: Lewis-Lamonica and Schwab, both members of the U.S. national team, are expected to return before season's end. Lewis-Lamonica forewent surgery and was fitted for a brace today, while Schwab could return as early as this week.

Graham, a junior, will undergo season-ending knee surgery, however.

The Big Green, which is 7-6 with games remaining against Boston University (Wednesday), Stanford and Duke, must likely win out to warrant at-large consideration for the NCAA tournament.

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Take Five

Note: Belmont Abbey (S.C.) shocked previously unbeaten and third-ranked Limestone on a Michael Brown goal with 11 seconds remaining in Division II men's lacrosse. According to the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Crusaders coach Jim Deitsch plucked grass from the Saints' field and put it in a paper cup, with intentions of planting the clippings in his own field.

My take: Now that's grassroots growth.

Note: On the heels of a mid-week win over No. 8 Notre Dame, No. 13 Vanderbilt legitimized its opportunity for a seeded entry in the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament by upsetting No. 7 Duke, 11-10, at home Saturday.

My take: Turn back the clock - it must be 2004. Vandy can strengthen its tournament positioning in the upcoming ALC tournament. The Commodores are a complete package, with goalie Brooke Shinaberry and defender Sasch Cielak offering great support behind Margie Curran, Vandy's all-purpose scorer.

Note: Penn State shocked No. 9 Bucknell last week to make head coach Glenn Thiel the fourth 300-game winner in men's lacrosse history, but was lackluster in an 8-4 loss to Rutgers on Saturday.

My take: Sounds about right for Happy Valley. Thiel himself credited the 300 wins to longevity. Truth is, Penn State has never taken off to be the kind of national power people envisioned.

Note: Freshman Travis Reed netted four assists in his return to Maryland's line-up Saturday following a two-game suspension for a DUI arrest and marijuana possession charges. The Terps defeated Penn, 9-4.

My take: Maryland scored more goals Saturday with Reed than it scored in its two previous games, both losses, combined without him. Dave Cottle should put Reed's motorized scooter on lockdown.

Note: Johns Hopkins is back in the driver's seat for an NCAA tournament berth, and potential seed, after beating Navy for the 34th straight time Saturday, 12-5. Though they must still win two of their three remaining games, the Blue Jays should have little trouble dispatching Mount St. Mary's and Towson before closing with Loyola.

My take: Those damn Jays, you can never count them out.

Quote of the Week

"Everyone was saying last year was a fluke. We're the team people love to hate. I think it feels so good...Bring it on."

- Penn goalie Sarah Waxman, on winning a second straight Ivy League women's lacrosse title and, later, embracing the challenge of facing No. 1 Northwestern this coming weekend.

Stat of the Week

In a game with potential NCAA tournament implications, Cornell's Courtney Farrell netted two goals in an 8-6 win over Yale, making her the school's all-time leading scorer with 206 career points. The 18th-ranked Big Red can further bolster its case with its home finale Tuesday against No. 5 Syracuse.

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Contact Matt DaSilva at mdasilva@uslacrosse.org.