IN THE FAST LANE: Princeton High girls’ lacrosse player Georgia McLean races upfield in 2014 action. Last Friday, sophomore midfielder McLean contributed two goals and an assist to help PHS top Hun 14-3, giving new head coach David Schlesinger the first victory in his tenure with the program. PHS, now 2-2, hosts WW/P-N on April 1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Over the last few years, when one watched the Princeton High girls’ lacrosse  team, the No. 17 shirt was sure to catch the eye.

The player wearing that jersey, gritty midfielder Dana Smith, was a 5’1 whirling dervish, gobbling up ground balls and triggering the PHS offense.

Smith graduated last June and is now making an impact on the Lafayette College women’s team, starting 11 of the team’s first 12 games this spring.

Although Smith is gone, the No. 17 is still figuring into the action as it has been inherited by sophomore Georgia McLean.

“I want to emulate Dana because I love the way she plays; I took her number on purpose,” said McLean, who wore No. 5 last year in her freshman campaign.” I have also had this number when I was a little girl on PGLax.”

Last Friday, McLean performed a very good imitation of Smith, tracking down a number of grounds balls in the midfield and chipping in two goals and an assist as PHS topped Hun 14-3, bouncing back nicely from a 5-1 loss to Shore in its season opener two days earlier.

“I was trying to get really pumped up for the game,” said McLean. “I ate my carbs last night and I was really fired up. I really wanted to come back from the first game.”

In McLean’s view, the Little Tigers were firing on all cylinders in the win over Hun.

“I think that we worked on a lot of midfield transitions, that was a big part of the game,” said McLean.

“We had a new play to utilize our best shooters, Allie (Callaway) and Gabby (Gibbons), they are amazing. I think we were more in synch because we had more practice and I think the plays that we did were really effective today.”

McLean has put in a lot of practice to become a better player as a sophomore.

“I really try to work on my shot and stuff like that,” said McLean, who chipped in two goals to help PHS top Bishop Eustace 13-10 last Monday as it improved to 2-2. “As a sophomore, you feel more confident on the field.”

PHS’s first-year head coach David Schlesinger was thrilled with the work he is getting from McLean.

“Georgia is amazing, she probably had about 30 ground balls today,” said Schlesinger.

“She is a very quick, tough, feisty player and she is going to make tons and tons of plays this year. We are very fortunate to have a player of her ability.”

In Schlesinger’s view, PHS played a lot better against Hun than it did in the opening day loss.

“I thought we played a little bit calmer than we did on Wednesday,” said Schlesinger.

“They pressured us but they didn’t put quite the same pressure that Shore did. I think we turned the ball over less and we had a lot more opportunities so the whole game was different. We have got some very talented offensive players and once they start relaxing a little more instead of feeling like they have to go, go, all the time then our offense will really start to click.”

Things were also clicking at the defensive end for the Little Tigers against Hun.

“I thought we played very strong defense; we have the ultimate defender in Mira,” said Schlesinger, referring to senior goalie Mira Shane.

“I thought our defense played very well. The game was called very, very tight so it limited some of our aggressiveness defensively but we adjusted and pulled out a victory.”

For Schlesinger, getting his first victory at PHS was sweet. “It is better than a second loss, it is also the 50th win of my career,” said a smiling Schlesinger, who previously coached at Eastern High and Wissahickon High (Pa.).

“It is good, any time you are in a new program, this is the third time I have started at another high school, you have to build credibility and you have to build it very quickly. The best way to do that is to pile up some wins.”

In McLean’s view, Schlesinger has already built up a lot of credibility with his new charges.

“It has been awesome, he is a really great coach,” said Schlesinger. “He has really taught me a lot about shooting and attack. We do a lot of team building to bring the team together. I think the team has really jelled.”