OPENING SALVO: Princeton University women’s lacrosse player Abby Finkelston looks for an opening in a game last season. Last Saturday, sophomore midfielder Finkelston contributed three goals as Princeton started its 2016 season by defeating No. 4 Virginia 14-7. Princeton, now ranked ninth, plays at Drexel on February 24 before hosting Georgetown on February 27. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

With the Princeton University women’s lacrosse team trailing powerful University of Virginia 4-3 with less than five minutes remaining in the first half in its season opener last Saturday, Abby Finkelston sensed that the game had reached a critical juncture.

“I think we realized, hey this is a tough game, it is 4-3 and it is going to be back and forth so let’s go,” said Princeton sophomore midfielder Finkelston.

“I think it was one of those moments where the attack knew we have got to step up, we have to get going and so we just started working together.”

Finkelston stepped up individually, scoring two goals in 31 seconds to help the Tigers forge ahead 5-4. Princeton never looked back from there, taking a 7-5 lead into halftime and then pulling away to a 14-7 win over the Cavaliers.

“We had so much energy in the team room during halftime,” said Finkelston. “We started taking that back out on the field. We weren’t going to let up. We knew that they were a little frazzled, they weren’t expecting that. We were on top of our game.”

The Tigers had the Virginia game circled on their calendar. “We knew what we were preparing for and we were putting in really tough work and focusing on the little things,” said Finkelston. “We really worked on teamwork and I think that really showed in the game today.”

The teamwork showed at the defensive end as junior goalie Ellie DeGarmo made a career-high 13 saves and the Tigers held the high-powered Cavaliers to a pair of goals in the second half.

“I have to give so much credit to Ellie DeGarmo; she absolutely killed it and the defense was working so well together,” said Finkelston.

“Seeing them work together as a unit, sliding together, talking was just phenomenal and the attack feeds off of that so much. The defense always talks about how they feed off of our goals. There was so much energy all over the field.”

Coming off a freshman season which saw her tally nine goals and two assists, Finkelston is looking to contribute more to the attack unit this spring.

“I feel more comfortable this year,” said Finkelston, a 5’8 native of Leonardtown, Md.

“We graduated some really phenomenal seniors last year and my sophomore class knows that it’s time for us to step up and take some roles on the field so we came out to this game, knowing it was our turn to step up and help out.”

The Tigers are looking to step up collectively after making it to the NCAA quarterfinals last year.

“We knew last season with our loss to Duke (7-3 in the NCAA quarters), that we weren’t satisfied,” said Finkelston.

“We knew that we wanted more and we are ready this year. We have had that goal in mind to get further since the beginning; we definitely feed off of that every time we step in the field.”

Princeton head coach Chris Sailer thought her squad fed off its 4-1 run late in the first half in pulling away from the Cavaliers.

“That gave us the momentum going into the locker room,” said Sailer.

“That was not the play we called out to get that sixth goal but it went in. The seventh goal was such a heads up play from Bruno to be aware of the clock and get a good assist off. I think that just gave us a lot of energy going into halftime but a two goal lead against Virginia certainly isn’t comfortable so we had to just keep attacking hard.”

After yielding a goal early in the second half, Princeton developed a comfort level, ending the game on a 7-1 run.

“In the second half the transition looks really opened up for us and I think that made a big difference,” said Sailer.

With the graduation of senior stars and top offensive weapons, Erin Slifer and Erin McMunn, Princeton is looking to be more balanced this year.

“It is the whole attack with everybody stepping up and each kid being able to get a couple of goals,” said Sailer, who got goals from nine different players against Virginia with Olivia Hompe and Finkelston each scoring three, Ellie McNulty chipping in two, and Camille Sullivan, Amanda Leavell Stephanie Paloscio, Alexandra Bruno, Elizabeth George, and Kathryn Hallett adding one apiece.

“I think this was really a great example that every kid on the field can put the ball in the cage if we can get a good feed. I think that is going to make us tough. It is going to be our strength.”

Junior star and co-captain Hompe, who had two assists to go with her hat trick, figures to be a strong force this spring for the Tigers.

“I think this is a different year for Olivia; the last couple of years she was maybe the third person that teams focused on in terms of trying to stop and now she is No. 1,” said Sailer.

“She is going to get a lot of face guards and a lot of tight marks. She is going to get a lot of early doubles. It is being able to handle that and still make herself really an impactful and effective part of our offense. She had some beautiful looks that we just didn’t convert in the second half. She has great eyes and terrific vision and can really make things happen down there.”

Sailer liked the way Finkelston made things happen. “You could see Fink, when she scored the extra man goal in the second half, just her poise in there to know it was an easy shot but she faked the goalie and just put it right around her,” said Sailer.

“She is a smart kid and she understands that it is not always power. She has that finesse. She is confident when she has the ball. She sees the opening for herself off of cuts. It is great to see that kid performing like she is and rising in a game like this.”

Princeton’s freshmen rose to the occasion in their college debut as George and Hallett starred at the offensive end while Alex Argo and Nonie Anderson shored up the defense.

“We knew we had a talented freshman class and I think four of them, George, Hallett, Argo, and Anderson, were out there today and we have more who will play,” said Sailer.

Hallett and George did well through the midfield. Argo has been phenomenal defensively and Nonie has been able to come in and give us that face guard option. It is great to see when you have young kids make a difference.”

The Tigers also benefitted from a great defensive effort. “Ellie DeGarmo was phenomenal in goal, she was great, she was seeing the ball so well,” said Sailer.

“Our defense was playing so well, forcing low angle shots so that Ellie was getting shots she could see and pretty easily save. I think our defense was just phenomenal today. They made the in-game adjustments that coach Cook was calling for with them and I think it really took UVa out of what they were trying to do.”

While Sailer was thrilled to see her team play so well in the opener, she knows it has room for improvement as it plays at Drexel on February 24 before hosting Georgetown on February 27.

“It it is a great way to start but as we told the girls afterward, you have just got to keep working and trying to get better everyday,” said Sailer, whose club is now ranked ninth nationally by the Inside Lacrosse media poll.

“There is a lot that we can take positively from this game and there are a lot of things that we need to build on.”

Finkelston, for her part, believes the Tigers are dedicated to keep getting better.

“It was definitely a confidence builder but as soon as we got in the team room, we talked about how we can be super excited about that but we have two games coming up this week,” said Finkelston.

“We can’t come out and let this get into our heads, we have a lot of work to do. It is just the beginning of the season.”