Follow us on Instagram
Try our daily mini crossword
Play our latest news quiz
Download our new app on iOS/Android!

Caro leads Princeton effort with two consecutive hat tricks this weekend

On Saturday, Princeton beat Brown 5-1 with senior captain Cat Caro scoring three points against the Bears. In the opening two minutes, Caro converted from a short corner to give the Tigers an early lead and set the tone for the game. Caro then came up with another goal 20 minutes in from a short corner shot by freshman midfielder Maddie Bacskai. Junior striker Ryan McCarthy then found space and played the ball to her teammate, junior Rachel Park, who remained calm in a one-on-one situation with the Brown goalie and pushed the Tigers to a 3-0 lead. Along with her assist, McCarthy scored a stellar backhand just minutes before the half, making sure the Tigers out shot Brown, 13-0, at the half way point.

Despite being up 4-0, Princeton came out strong in the first ten minutes of the second half. The Tigers' intensity dwindled at times, which cost them a goal, their first and only goal they have conceded in Ivy League play. Freshman goalkeeper Grace Baylis found herself faced with a two-on-one situation and the Brown forward pushed it past her into the goal. Head Coach Carla Tagliente called a time out for the Tigers and the response seemed to be immediate from Princeton, who won the ball back and continued to attack Brown’s circle. Caro got the final goal of the day to complete her hat trick. With a diving pass from McCarthy, Caro picked up the ball and pulled the goalkeeper wide to then backhand it past her at the near post. Finishing the game with a 27-2 shot advantage, the Tigers beat the Bears, with the final score 5-1. “We went in wanting to focus on ball movement and finishing, and I think we made great strides in both those areas,” said Caro

ADVERTISEMENT

Princeton then took on Towsonon Sunday, celebrating ‘Friends of Jaclyn Day' with their young guest, Moo. This is a yearly event where the Tigers celebrate a great charity that supports young children with brain tumors. The Tigers dominated Towson from the off, scoring a total of eight goals in the game and conceding none, with Caro again getting herself three, taking her total goal tally this year up to a career record of 13.

In the first five minutes, McCarthy deflected the ball past the Towson goalkeeper on a pass by freshman Carlotta von Gierke, andwithin ten minutes, Caro doubled the league off a short corner. Sophomore Sophia Tornetta and junior Lexi Quirk both scoredwithin six minutesof each other, both with deflections off the goalkeeper. Quirk then came up with the assist for von Gierke, who calmly backhanded the ball in the cage to take Princeton to a 5-0 lead at half time. Quirk set a personal best in the game with a goal and two assists.

As the Tigers came out for half time, it did not take Caro long to increase their lead to 6-0, with Tornetta dribbling down the base line to play the ball in to Quirk, who played it to Caro to finish it off. McCarthy then scored again with an assist coming from Quirk, and the final goal by Caro, for her second hat trick of the weekend, came from a pass by freshman Taylor Nolan, who got her first collegiate career assist. Caro finished up by saying, “I was fortunate enough to have two hat tricks this weekend but I really couldn’t have done it without my team. Both of these wins were complete team efforts, back to front.”

The Tigers finished the game beating Towson 8-0 and out-shooting them 44-0. They will face Harvardon Saturday, Oct. 22 at 12 p.m. for arguably their biggest game of the season so far.

ADVERTISEMENT