GRACE UNDER PRESSURE: Princeton University women’s lacrosse player Grace Tauckus looks to elude some foes in a game last spring. Senior attacker Tauckus, who scored 29 goals in 2023, figures to be a key offensive weapon for the Tigers this season. Princeton plays at No. 16 Virginia (2-0) on February 17 to open its 2024 campaign. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

After transition season in 2023, Jenn Cook is excited to see the improvements in this year’s Princeton University women’s lacrosse team.

The Tigers open their season this Saturday at No. 16 Virginia, who improved to 2-0 after a 10-9 win over Stanford on February 11. With Princeton coming off a 7-9 season last spring, the first at the helm for head coach Cook, who took over for the retired Chris Sailer, the program has been building through the fall and preseason practices to turn things around this spring.

“We definitely saw in fall ball, and you can definitely see it in practice that our players know what’s expected, they’re not satisfied, they’re hungry,” said Cook. “They really want to make their own mark. We had some really great fall ball learning opportunities and we used them as much as we could to the fullest extent.”

Princeton returns a large portion of last year’s contributors. Five of the six players that scored 20 or more goals last year are back led by midfielder Kari Buonanno, who led last year’s team with 48 points on 29 goals and 19 assists. McKenzie Blake and Jami MacDonald were just behind her in points, with Blake leading last year’s Tigers with 39 goals,
and both return as well. Grace Tauckus tallied 29 goals last year as a junior and figures to be another key offensive weapon.

“We’re one more year experienced,” said Cook. “We return four of our top five scorers. We return all of our midfield, and our defensive unit is another year experienced. The year prior, we had to replace pretty much everybody. So last year, a lot of people were stepping into new roles. I think this year we’re a whole lot more confident, and a whole lot more experienced.”

The Tigers spent the fall focusing on ways to execute better as the offensive and defensive ends. Princeton is hoping its units at either end will be more cohesive this year as well.

“After last year’s result, I truly believe it was a growth year for everybody, including the coaching staff,” said Cook. “For us, it was really getting back to using that experience from last spring and helping it propel us into the fall and into this year and really coming together and starting to gel on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.”

Princeton took an international trip to Italy in the fall, a unique experience that enabled the team to further bond together. The Tigers are leaning on the experiences shared as they head into this season.

“We’ve played a lot and learned a lot since last year,” said Cook. “I think it’s very clear the work that’s required, which is awesome. Our players, leaders, and captains are doing a fantastic job of doing the work that’s required, and they’re really driven and motivated, which is awesome to see. They understand that to get different results we have to be a different type of team and put in a different work ethic and have a different mindset. They’ve been all in on that which has been awesome.”

Senior star Buonanno is part of a deep and talented midfield that is the core of the Tigers. The midfield is shored up by the return of Sam DeVito and Sophie Whiteway. Princeton will add in new arrival Colette Quinn to the mix.

“She is an incredibly mature first-year who has done a good job studying and picking up both sides of the ball, which is no easy task as a first-year,” said Cook of Quinn. “We’re really excited about that. I think those newcomers will have a really fantastic impact.”

At the attacking end, Meg Morrisroe is a first-year player that will draw some attention. She has a high lacrosse IQ and moves well off-ball to set up scoring options. Princeton also gets back Ellie Mueller, who started the first 10 games last year before a season-ending knee injury.

“She’s going to help us on the draw tremendously and on the offensive end,” said Cook. “It doesn’t look like she’s skipped a beat, which is great to see. I’m incredibly happy for her. That’s also really, really exciting for us.”

Mueller last year was part of an adjustment to the draw control after a slow start there for the Tigers. Princeton improved as the year went along but still finished 103rd in draw control percentage out of 120 teams in the country. It’s an area that the Tigers figure to be much improved in this season.

“We have some new additions in the midfield that take the draw, including Colette and Merrill Watson, who’s also a first-year, along with Lane Calkins and Sophie Whiteway and Ellie Mueller,” said Cook. “We have a pretty good arsenal on the draw and from what I’ve seen from some of our scrimmages, and fall ball contests, we’re looking like we’re in a completely different place which is what we want to see. There’s a better understanding of the communication and where the ball’s going on the circle and reading our opponent. I think it’s really exciting to have a lot of options through the draw that are of course going to have to work through the year and what your opponent does and matching them with one of our players that works well against them, but I think it’s really nice to have those numbers and options on the draw.”

Winning more draws will help take some pressure off a defense that also went through a great deal of growth last year. Princeton was 86th in the country last year after allowing 13.69 goals per game. The Tigers graduated defenders Shannon Berry, Shea Smith and Maria Pansini (Pansini is using her fifth year of NCAA eligibility at Florida this year) but standout Sammy Filippi along with Caroline Burnett and Sam Whiting are back at that end, along with second-team All-Ivy League selection Amelia Hughes in goal.

“This fall, what I think has been awesome, everywhere all over the field, but particularly on the defensive end I think they’ve been really open to different systems of play,” said Cook. “We really viewed the fall as an opportunity to be in the lab, experimenting with different kinds of defenses that will set our team and unit up for success, give our goalies the shots that they want to see and they really thrive in shot-wise. They made incredible progress.”

UVA will be the first team to see what sort of looks the Tigers use on defense. Princeton likes its versatility and ability to counter opposing offenses this year. The versatility along with their growth is something that the Tigers expect will make them stingier at that end.

“We have some different things in our back pocket this year with different systems of play and I think they’re looking pretty good,” said Cook. “I think our lax IQ and knowledge of the game has grown by doing all those different experiments in the fall and trying different mans and different zones. That requires your players to be open to it and trying different things. I really credit our upperclassmen in particular with being bought in on that.”

Kayla Wood joined Cook’s coaching staff this year and Wood, a North Carolina graduate like Cook, has helped bolster the defensive end. Cook still has longtime PU assistant Kerrin Maurer and former national champion JMU goalie Molly Dougherty on staff as well. They have been in sync in sorting out where the Tigers had gaps last year and how to fix them.

“We really understand the pieces that we needed to improve upon as a coaching group in order to set our players up for success this year,” said Cook. “That’s with anything — the more experience you have, the better and better you get. That’s all part of learning. It’s having a growth mindset.”

Princeton’s schedule will also help the team grow through this season. The Tigers are playing five non-conference opponents that made the NCAA tournament last year. Princeton will travel to Penn State a week after playing in Charlottesville. They open their home schedule with Rutgers on February 28. Florida, Loyola and Maryland are also on the non-conference schedule.

“You’ve got to play the best to be the best,” said Cook. “Opening with UVA, they’re an incredibly talented team, they’re an ACC team. You can expect them to play hard and smart
and really be a fantastic challenge for us. We really look at creating a schedule around the fantastic competition that’s in the Mid-Atlantic out of conference. I think that really helps us as we get into the later part of the year because that’s when everyone is starting to peak, and we want to be peaking as well and having some really phenomenal competitive games under our belt. You don’t want your first pressure-packed, highly ranked game to be in May. You really want to do that earlier and prep your kids earlier.”

Princeton is hopeful that its non-conference games will prepare it to return to the top of the Ivy League. The Tigers host Yale, which ousted them from last year’s Ivy Tournament, on March 2 and host defending Ivy champion Penn on April 3.

“Every single year within the Ivy League it’s an absolute dogfight,” said Cook.  “Basically, the last four teams that made the Ivy tournament were Penn, Yale, Harvard and us. It’s not taking any game for granted. It’s understanding that each and every Ivy League game that we play is going to an extremely competitive one and we need to come in confident and prepped. I think the Ivy League looks great this year. Everyone is elevating their game. That’s what you want to see in your conference year in and year out.”

Princeton, too, is looking to elevate its team. After a year of growth with a lot of new roles for players and for coaches, the Tigers return with experience and a strong desire to make a jump this spring in the Ivy and national standings.