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Norbury's Defensive Leadership a Key Factor As Tiger Women's Lax Dismantles Yale 13-4
By Bill Alden
The Princeton University women's lacrosse team last tasted defeat when it dropped a one-goal heartbreaker at Yale last April.
As the top-ranked Tigers looked forward to last Saturday's rematch with the 14th-ranked Bulldogs, they were determined to make amends for last year&'s disappointment.
Utilizing a stifling defense that allowed two goals in the first four minutes and then just two more over the next 56 minutes, Princeton dismantled Yale 13-4 to improve to 11-0 (3-0 Ivy League) before a sunsplashed crowd at Class of 1952 Stadium.
One of the linchpins of the club's stingy defense, senior defender Katie Norbury, acknowledged that the Tigers hit the field bent on payback.
"There was definitely a revenge factor, yeah," said the slender Norbury flashing a grin as she reflected on a day on which the Tigers won their 20th straight game, tying the program record for consecutive wins.
"The defense was really on the same page today. Everyone was ready to double and then slide to help each other out which sapped a lot of their drive."
Norbury, for her part, has been driven to provide leadership in the defense to fill the void left by the graduated defensive superstar Rachael Becker, last season's national player of the year.
"This year has been great," said the co-captain from Berwyn, Pa. who made second-team All-American last year as Princeton won its second straight national title.
"It's been easy to lead because I have such a great defense behind me with people like Lauren Vance, Caitlin Reimers and Sarah [Kolodner] in goal."
Princeton head coach Chris Sailer had an inkling before the game that her club was primed to put in a special performance against the Bulldogs.
"We had a really good practice Thursday night and we've been playing well together," said Sailer, whose club had tuned up for the clash with Yale by overwhelming Temple 19-6 last Wednesday.
"The enthusiasm, spirit, and energy in the locker room before the game was unbelievable. I felt we were going to have a good game today."
In Sailer&'s view, the Tigers' defensive effort was better than good. "They had two early goals and then Kolodner started sharpening up in there, she made a ton of saves," said Sailer, whose junior goalie was credited with 13 saves and came into the game giving up just over six goals an outing.
"I think our defense really made them take predictable shots. We weren&'t giving them really good looks. We had so many great defensive plays on double teams. We were able to get them to turn the ball over. Defensively, this is one of the best games we've had this year."
Sailer credits Norbury with getting the defensive unit in sync in the wake of the departure of all-everything Becker. "Katie is such a great kid," said Sailer, whose attack Saturday was sparked by a sparkling four-goal, two-assist performance from junior Lindsey Biles.
"She's fabulous back there. She&'s so reliable; she's such a great communicator. She's a kid who can make plays, get ground balls. She really does it all for us defensively."
Sailer acknowledged that her club is doing it all collectively as it continues its seemingly inexorable march to a third straight national crown.
"Once you've won [a national title], you want to win it again," asserted Sailer, who has guided the Tigers to three national titles in her 17-year tenure at the helm of the program.
"You know how awesome it is to win the title and be a great team. You want to work hard to get back there. It's a credit to our kids that they haven&'t gotten complacent. Everybody is just getting better."
Norbury believes there is little chance of the defensive unit losing its edge. "This year everybody brings something different [to the defense]," said Norbury, who will be looking to help keep the Tigers on the winning track as it hosts Penn on April 14 before playing at Harvard on April 17.
"It's a great combination of speed and awareness. Today I think we had both and when we have both I think we do really well. We have really been working on keeping the intensity up and having fun. A big part of it is just making sure that everybody is coming to compete and having fun while doing it."
It looks like Norbury is going to have a lot more fun this spring as she competes in her final college campaign.
