CENTURY CLUB: Princeton University women’s lacrosse player Olivia Hompe brings the ball up the field in recent action. Last Saturday, junior star Hompe scored four goals to help No. 11 Princeton edge Harvard 6-5. Her second tally of the day marked the 100th goal of her stellar carer. Princeton, now 5-2 overall and 2-0 Ivy League, plays at Loyola (6-4) on March 30 and at Delaware (8-3) on April 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Bringing a two-game losing streak into its clash at Harvard last Saturday, the Princeton University women’s lacrosse team was looking to get back to basics. 

“We did a lot of work on just small pieces, like our defensive approach and continuing work on our stick protection and our 1-on-1,” said Princeton head coach Chris Sailer, whose 11th-ranked team had lost 16-11 at No. 6 Notre Dame on March 13 and 14-10 at No. 8 Penn State three days later.

“We did smaller pieces of the game and we proceeded to work into the 7-vs-7 offense and defense kind of work. A lot of it was just getting back to some of the fundamentals which had really caused us some issues in the previous two games.”

While a gritty Harvard team caused some issues for Princeton, the Tigers got back on the winning track as they pulled out a 6-5 win over the Crimson, improving to 5-2 overall and 2-0 Ivy League.

“We knew Harvard was a good team,” said Sailer. “They have had good results. They have some really athletic kids and good sticks. They have been doing a really good job this year so we thought it would be a really competitive game. I didn’t necessarily think it was going to be as low scoring as it was, I didn’t project that. Fortunately we were able to put one more in the net than they did.”

Keeping Harvard out of the net played a critical role in the win for Princeton.

“I think one of the things that made a difference for us all in the game was the performance of Ellie DeGarmo in the cage,” said Sailer of junior star DeGarmo, who was later named the Ivy Co-Defensive Player of the Week for her performance along with Dartmouth’s Jaclyn Leto.

“She was just phenomenal with her career-high 14 saves, that was a huge difference for us in that game.”

Sailer acknowledged that the Tigers were on their heels for much of the second half.

“They absolutely outshot us,” said Sailer, noting that her team benefitted from an illegal stick call in the waning moments of the game that negated what would have been a game-tying goal by Harvard.

“In the second half, there weren’t many draws because there weren’t many goals but they won all of the draws. We were up one at halftime and we ended up winning by one so it was an even game goal-wise in that second half but they had more offensive possessions and more shots than we did. So it was really the defense just hanging in there and Ellie coming up with some great saves.”

The Princeton offense was sparked by another great performance from junior star and co-captain Olivia Hompe, who scored four goals.

“Olivia had a phenomenal game, they were face-guarding her and she worked really hard to get herself open,” said Sailer.

“Her teammates gave her some great feeds and she was able to put them away. It was definitely teamwork on the attack that got us those highlight goals.”

Hompe enjoyed a personal highlight as she hit the 100-goal milestone in her career with her second tally of the contest.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all, she has been a big scorer and points getter; I think it just speaks to her talent and her abilities,” added Sailer of Hompe, who has a team-high 26 goals this season.

“This year especially, she is the focus of so many team’s defenses and that is what has separated Liv this year; she has been able to put up consistent numbers while being face-guarded, while being double-teamed, and while taking a lot of physicality. Teams play very physically on her but she is such a competitor and she continues to find a way so I think her play has been a huge factor in our success this year.”

Another big factor for the Tigers against Harvard was the playmaking of sophomore Colby Chanenchuk, who had a career-high three assists.

“Chanenchuk had some nice feeds to Liv, she knows how to look for her and she knows what Liv is likely to do and she is not afraid to put the ball in there,” said Sailer. “It is really teamwork, that is what it is about.”

Seeing her team get back on the winning track with a crucial Ivy victory was heartening for Sailer.

“I think it is really just huge to play a better game, which we did,” said Sailer.

“It is still not perfect; we still had more turnovers than we would like to see. To be able to win in Harvard Stadium, coming off the week that we had come off before is great for our team. I think everyone knows that we have to play even better than we did. Harvard is going to be one of the top teams in the Ivies. Dartmouth beat Penn this past weekend and Cornell has had a great start. The Ivy competition is really going to be tight, good, and very competitive so to have two wins having played Harvard and Dartmouth is awesome for us.”

As Princeton prepares for the Ivy stretch drive, it will stay on the road for two competitive non-conference contest as it plays at Loyola (6-4) on March 30 and at Delaware (8-3) on April 2.

“I would like to see us continue to improve, the challenge for us will be that both teams play different defenses than what we see consistently,” said Sailer.

“So how we adjust to that offensively, being able to find our looks and taking care of the ball against the pressure will be key. They are both really athletic teams. They are fast, they have good sticks. It is a big week and hopefully we can keep ascending from Saturday’s game, play well, and come out with some good results.”