W. Lax | A Repeat Performance

PRINCETON, N.J. - For the women's lacrosse team, déj… vu has never been sweeter.

As they did last year, the Quakers beat Princeton by four goals to clinch at least a share of the Ivy League title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

No. 6 Penn's 9-5 win this year was its first at Princeton's Class of 1952 Field since 1986. The victory over the No. 2 Tigers (10-1, 4-1 Ivy) was also the first over a top-two team in the program's history and gave it its fourth Ivy crown.

"No question, Princeton is always a top program," Penn coach Karin Brower said. "Last year, when we beat them, it felt like we'd arrived. So to beat this team at No. 2 shows that we're a solid team and we're here to stay."

Even though last year's Princeton game had a similar feel, in many ways this year's was even more satisfying.

"It's 100 percent better," senior goalkeeper Sarah Waxman said. "We're on their field. They were undefeated.

"To win [the Ivies] two times in a row, that means so much to the senior class who have worked four years for this."

Leading the charge for Penn (11-1, 6-0) were senior captain Rachel Manson, who scored career goals 101, 102 and 103, and sophomore Ali Deluca, who had a game-high five points on three goals and two assists.

Waxman, also a captain, had another huge night, lowering her nation-leading goals-per-game average to 6.23.

But Manson was quick to praise all the seniors for the team's success.

"I never think about stats," the attacker from Alexandria, Va., said. "I think the entire senior class brought it."

The game started out slow, with only six shots apiece resulting in a 3-1 Penn lead at the break. This low offensive output wasn't due to sloppy play, but rather to Penn's deliberate attack. In fact, in a twist from the Penn-Princeton basketball rivalry, it was Penn who slowed down the tempo.

"We were trying to be more patient," Brower said. "We wanted to keep working the ball to earn a good shot. They're a good defensive team . so you can't force it."

However, the first 10 minutes of the second half were nothing like the first 30 of the game. Penn went on a 5-0 run in that span, capped off by an acrobatic DeLuca goal in which she jumped in mid-air, caught a Kaitlyn Lombardo pass and ripped off a shot, all without touching the ground. When the run finally ended, Penn had seized an 8-1 lead.

At the same time, Brower wasn't overconfident.

"Did I feel 100 percent 'ooh we're up by five goals we're going to win this game?' No, because we haven't played for 60 minutes," she said. "I think a big step tonight was after they scored those two goals, we called a timeout and came back and answered. After that I really felt that we were going to win."

For the Tigers, this will be a game they'll quickly to forget. They never looked in control, and only after a late 4-1 run did the score look reasonably close.

"We just wanted it a lot more than them," DeLuca said. "You could feel the energy in the locker room beforehand. Everything just really clicked for us tonight."

Brower, who says she does not pay attention to the rankings, still believes her team should move up after beating a second-ranked, undefeated team.

"I think it's black and white," she said. "We should be number two."

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