LIVING IT UP: Princeton University women’s lacrosse player Olivia Hompe heads to goal in a game earlier this season. Sophomore Hompe has caught fire in recent play, scoring four goals in an 8-4 win over Drexel last Wednesday and then chipping in a career-high five goals and an assist to help Princeton beat Georgetown 11-7 last Saturday. The 9th-ranked Tigers, now 3-0, open Ivy League play with a game at Dartmouth (0-1) on March 7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After not scoring a goal for the Princeton University women’s lacrosse in its season-opening 10-8 win over Loyola on February 21, Olivia Hompe didn’t waste any time finding her shooting range when the Tigers hosted Drexel last Wednesday.

The sophomore attacker scored two goals in the first half as Princeton built a 5-0 halftime lead over the Dragons.

While Hompe was relieved to break the ice personally, she was more pleased about how the offense clicked collectively.

“I think it is always nice getting your first goal of the season and getting it out of the way,” said Hompe.

“I think we really played a great game on Saturday so coming off that energy was exciting today. We got a couple of different kids scoring than we did on Saturday, which was great. I think it just shows that our offense is really diverse.”

While Drexel made the game a little more exciting in the second half than the Tigers wanted, pulling to within three goals at one point, Princeton took care of business down the stretch in posting an 8-4 win.

“A lot of the game didn’t go the way we expected it to, we came out and we had a tough second half,” said Hompe.

“We had a couple of mistakes, unforced errors on our part. I think it is just getting back out there and getting under that game pressure again. We got a lot of
experience powering through, especially when they started pressuring us down low on attack, just making sure we could move the ball. It was not the prettiest win but we gutted it out.”

The one-two combination of Hompe and senior Erin McMunn has been providing Princeton some pretty play in the crease.

“I love playing behind her; she makes it incredibly easy,” said Hompe, who scored 46 points in 2014 on 22 goals and 24 assists. “We make a really nice pair. I am definitely going to miss her next year.”

With a season of college lax under her belt, Hompe is primed for a big year in her sophomore campaign.

“I think really I just have a lot more confidence going into the game,” said Hompe, who displayed her increased confidence last Saturday when she tallied a career-high five goals and an assist to help Princeton beat Georgetown 11-7 and improve to 3-0.

“We have really well structured offense and all fall we were working on getting good flow, getting lots of different angles. Building from the fall is really the way we get looks from up top, from the sides and from low and from inside. I think that is going to make us a really potent attack.”

Princeton head coach Chris Sailer liked the work she got from sophomore goalie Ellie DeGarmo and the Tiger defense in the first half against Drexel.

“I thought we did play a nice defensive first half,” said Sailer of DeGarmo, who was later named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week along with Brown goalie Kellie Roddy.

“I think you have to give so much credit in that game to Ellie DeGarmo. We made that decision to give her the start. She played well all fall and has played well in preseason. She played well Saturday and she really went with it so it was good to see. Those saves made a huge difference for us, the game could have felt very different for us.”

Hompe made a difference at the offensive end of the field. “She did have four goals, the goals definitely did help,” said Sailer.

“Liv is a great player, incredibly talented, really smart. She knows how to work defenses. Those four goals today were huge; she was our only kid with multiple goals.”

Sailer knows that the one-two punch provided by Hompe and McMunn is a huge part of the Tiger attack.

“They look for each other,” said Sailer. “Since Liv first got here they had had a special connection. They are quite the duo back there.”

In the win over Drexel, Princeton didn’t look as sharp as Sailer would have liked.

“It was probably our worst shooting day in I can’t remember how long,” said Sailer, whose team is now ranked No. 9 nationally in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and is slated to open Ivy League play with a game at Dartmouth (0-1) on March 7.

“We usually shoot around 50 percent and we shot 33 percent today. We were just a little bit off in a lot of stuff that we did. Our turnovers were high, we were casual and rushing a few things. We weren’t as settled in ourselves as we needed to be.”

Hompe, for her part, has high hopes for the Tigers this spring.

“We had a really tough first game and I think that helped us jolt right into the season,” said Hompe.

“We have a couple of big non-conference games that we would like to win. I think that is what I learned the most last season, that the beginning ones are the most important so we are going to try to get some good wins before we head into Ivy play.”