No. 17 Women’s Lacrosse Tames Temple, 17-9
Princeton dominated the opening and closing quarters on the road at Temple, outscoring the Owls by a 10-1 margin in those two periods en route to a 17-9 win in Philadelphia.
McKenzie Blake had a career-high six goals for the Tigers, while first-year goalkeeper Amelia Hughes made 19 saves.
11:13 (2nd) Blake Fakes.. Blake Takes… Blake Makes.
McKenzie shakes free for a skipper and we lead, 6-1! pic.twitter.com/DusBqLufHE
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) February 25, 2023
The win is the first career victory for head coach Jenn Cook.
Sophie Whiteway tied her career high with three goals, while Kate Mulham, Kari Buonanno and Ellie Mueller each had two.
2:24 (1st) Sheesh.
Sophie Whiteway catches and fires from distance and we lead, 3-0! pic.twitter.com/H2ogVvtaAs
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) February 25, 2023
The Tigers were efficient in maximizing their shots on goal, scoring 17 times on 21 shots to target. Temple, on the flip side, scored just nine times on 28 shots to goal. Hughes was at her best on free positions, holding the Owls without a goal on seven free position opportunities.
Coming Up Hughes!
Amelia Hughes now has 16 saves and has held Temple to 0-for-7 on free positions! pic.twitter.com/UfTOURmo2c
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) February 25, 2023
The Tigers kept the Owls off the scoreboard for the opening 16:01 of the game, building a 4-0 lead after the first quarter before Temple finally broke into the scoring column 1:01 into the second period.
Sophie Whiteway had two goals in the first quarter, joined by Kari Buonanno and Ellie Mueller.
Mueller’s goal came with 0:00.3 left in the first quarter, Mueller circling the entirety of the fan in the attacking zone before whipping a shot inside the far left post to cap a solid first quarter where the Tigers saw Amelia Hughes make three saves – including two on Temple free positions.
Buzzer… Beaten!
Ellie Mueller with a laser to close out a 4-0 first quarter for Princeton at Temple!@ILWomen | @NCAALAX | @USALacrosseMag pic.twitter.com/60yhaRNxQ7
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) February 25, 2023
After Maeve Tobin got Temple on the board early in the second quarter, Grace Tauckus scored on the fly under a minute later before McKenzie Blake worked her way out from behind the cage and shook free for a skip shot inside the left post to give the Tigers a 6-1 lead 3:47 into the second quarter.
The Owls would creep back into the game, netting four of the next five goals to make Princeton’s lead 7-5, but Mueller again came through in the final seconds of a quarter with her second goal of the game – a deflection of an entry pass that snuck up and over the goalie to send the Tigers to halftime with an 8-5 lead.
The third quarter was played even, each team securing three goals. McKenzie Blake had two goals in the third period sandwiched around a rocket from Kate Mulham for her first of the season.
With the Tigers on a player-up advantage, Ellie Mueller stepped in front of an attempted Temple clear to secure a second chance look. The ball eventually worked over to Mulham who uncorked a rising shot that found the top corner.
11:13 (2nd) Blake Fakes.. Blake Takes… Blake Makes.
McKenzie shakes free for a skipper and we lead, 6-1! pic.twitter.com/DusBqLufHE
— Princeton Women’s Lax (@princetonwlax) February 25, 2023
The Owls closed to within three goals one again with 2:52 left in the third quarter via a Mackenzie Roth goal, but Princeton clamped down and held Temple without a goal for the next 12:53 of game play. By that time, the Tigers had scored four consecutive goals and built a 15-8 lead.
Blake struck for three goals in the fourth quarter alone, with Buonanno, Whiteway and Mulham adding the others.
The Tigers head to No. 9 Rutgers (March 1; 6 p.m.) and No. 21 Yale (March 4; 1 p.m.) this coming week.
