2023 Women's Top 30: How Princeton Fared vs. Projections

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2024, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2023.

After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.

Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next month or so.

PRINCETON WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason/Final Top 20 Ranking: 17/Unranked
2023 record: 7-9 (4-3 Ivy League)

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Despite its overall struggles, Princeton remained highly competitive in the Ivy League. Even with a rocky season, the Tigers remained a viable option to win the conference’s automatic bid late in the season. There were some hiccups — like a 15-14 loss to Dartmouth in late April — and Princeton’s 4-3 Ivy record can otherwise be attributed to the improvements made by Penn and Yale.

First-year head coach Jenn Cook earned ranked non-conference wins over Rutgers and USC and saw significant growth from young players like Sophie Whiteway, McKenzie Blake, Jami MacDonald, Nina Montes, Sam Whiting and others.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Securing and finishing possessions were both difficult for Princeton. The Tigers ranked 103rd of 120 teams in draw control percentage at 43.2 percent. Couple that with the 48th-ranked offense in terms of shooting percentage (43 percent), and Princeton often struggled to string goals together. The offense’s total output of 13.94 goals per game ranked 26th, so it’s fair to assume that more possessions would have significantly altered the Tigers’ season.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

As Princeton hovered right around the NCAA tournament bubble, one big win kept its hopes of an at-large berth alive. The Tigers downed USC, an NCAA tournament team, 11-8 on March 10 in large part because of a five-goal outburst in the third quarter. Amelia Hughes was sensational, making 14 saves to help Princeton overcome 22 turnovers.

VERDICT

It was a down season for the uber-consistent Tigers, though it wasn’t entirely unexpected after the graduation of program staples like Kyla Sears, Sam Fish and Marge Donovan (who transferred to Maryland as a graduate student). The beginnings of the post-Chris Sailer era weren’t ideal, but there’s plenty of young talent on the roster for the future — talent that has already proven itself more than capable.