Penn senior attack Megan Smith came into last night’s matchup at rival Princeton with only five starts and six goals on the entire season.
But Smith’s hat trick and a strong showing by the rest of the Class of 2010 ensured that the road to the Ivy League women’s lacrosse championship will go through Franklin Field for the fourth consecutive year.
“I think she did a really nice job of cutting off the stack,” Penn coach Karin Brower Corbett said. “They probably had their better defenders on some of our big scorers. … Meg did a really nice job finishing most of her shots.”
With a convincing 12-5 victory over the Tigers, No. 5 Penn secured at least a share of its fourth straight regular season Ancient Eight crown and is now almost guaranteed to host the inaugural Ivy Tournament, which starts April 30 and is awarded to the outright winner.
The Quakers used a three-goal spurt in a four-minute span to take a 4-1 lead in the first half, which prompted Princeton coach Chris Sailer to pull starting goalie Erin Tochihara. But a Princeton goal with just seconds left closed the margin to only 6-4 at the break.
Tochihara — who finished last season fourth in the nation in save percentage — had corralled four saves in the opening 11 minutes. Backup Kaitlyn Perrelle went the rest of the way and gave up eight goals compared to six saves.
Penn used a dominant defensive effort in the second half to close out any chance for an upset. A 6-2 advantage in draw controls in the period helped the Quakers dominate possession and shut out the Tigers in the game’s final 22:36.
“Defensively we were able to get stops a couple of times and get some caused turnovers, which is great,” Corbett said. “But we also produced a lot of caused turnovers in transition, which helped us, again, to have the ball a lot more.”
Penn’s seniors, who have carried the team all season, accounted for 12 of the Quakers’ 18 points on the night. In addition to Smith’s three goals, Ali DeLuca tallied two goals and four assists, Courtney Lubbe had a pair of goals and Emma Spiro added a goal for good measure.
“They clearly wanted to be able to be that class that won it all four years,” Corbett said. “They felt a lot of pressure this year, and they really played hard and showed a lot of leadership, especially in the last couple games.”
Some younger Quakers also made big contributions, as sophomore Erin Brennan scored three goals to go along with one assist, and freshman Maddie Poplawski scored a key goal in the decisive first-half run.
For Corbett, a former assistant coach at Princeton, it was especially sweet for Penn to clinch a share of the championship against its biggest rival.
“I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and their program, and I just feel that it’s always a game that you get up for and that tests what your program is about,” Corbett said. “It’s great to go in there and play well and win it on their home field.”
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