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Field hockey completes perfect Ivy season

Certain things at Princeton seem constant. Problem sets, lack of sleep and a craving for Late Meal. One can probably add one more thing to that list — the Field Hockey team’s constant domination of the Ivy League.

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With their overtime victory against the University of Pennsylvania Quakers this past Saturday, the No. 18 ranked Tigers (10-6 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) completed a season sweep of the Ivies and guaranteed themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight year. The team hit their mark of perfection after the “blip” of last season where they went 6-1 in league play.

Heading into their final regular season battle, the Tigers, while guaranteed at least a share of the Ivy League title, needed the win to take it outright. Indeed, the team against which they were playing, the Quakers (13-3, 5-2), needed this win to get said share of the title.

The Tigers would get on the board quite early, as senior striker Maddie Copeland continued her scoring onslaught on the season. Senior midfielder Teresa Benvenuti got the ball right in front of the goal to Copeland, setting her up for the tap in to give Princeton a 1-0 lead, just under seven minutes into the game. The Tigers would remain aggressive thereafter — Benvenuti looked to double the Tigers’ lead, but a save from Penn goalie Liz Mata kept Princeton at bay. Ultimately, Penn would get the last three scoring opportunities of the half, but with two shots wide and one blocked made little threat to senior goalie Anya Gersoff.

The second half featured fewer shots slung than the first; outside of a pair of attempts by Copeland and Penn’s Rachel Huang in the first five minutes, neither side was able to make much headway on offense. However, the fortune of the Quakers changed as the end of the game drew near. Penn’s Selena Garzio, taking the pass from Elizabeth Hitti at the top of the circle, knocked it into the left corner of the goal and past Gersoff’s extended arms for the tying goal. Thus, despite holding the lead for over 60 minutes of game time, the Tigers found themselves forced to battle Penn in overtime.

Once overtime had commenced, however, the women of Princeton found their groove just at the right time. During the 73rd minute, freshman striker Sophia Tornetta made the decisive play, cutting deep through multiple Penn defenders to make a cross pass over to the right side of the goal. Sophomore striker Ryan McCarthy, running up as well, took the pass and sent the ball into a wide open goal. Mata had been drawn too far to the left side by Tornetta to make any play to stop McCarthy’s goal. Thus, the Tigers walked away from Penn with a 2-1 victory, and away from Ivy League play at a perfect 7-0.

Though the Tigers have much to celebrate, their real journey is only just beginning. This coming Saturday, they will compete in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, against a school they know only too well — the University of Maryland. The Terrapins, ranked No. 7 in the country, have beaten the Tigers in all five of the teams’ matchups from the 2013 season onward, and knocked the Tigers out of the NCAA Tournament in both the 2013 and the 2014 seasons.

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However, things would certainly bode well for the Tigers if they end up taking Maryland down. The last time the Tigers defeated Maryland was in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA Tournament — the same tournament in which the Tigers made themselves NCAA Champions.

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