Field Hockey

In August of 2012, senior midfielder Katie Reinprecht was still training in Europe with the U.S. National Team as her year-long hiatus from Princeton field hockey drew to a close. Less than three months later, she was raising an NCAA Championship trophy in Virginia with her fellow Tigers.

During the final game of her college career, Reinprecht recorded an assist and the game’s only defensive save en route to a 3-2 upset over then-No. 1 North Carolina. Reinprecht’s efforts helped Princeton capture its eighth-straight Ivy League title and first ever national title.

It has been a busy year for Sydney Kirby, who kicked off her fall semester by helping the U.S. Under-21 National Field Hockey Team lock up a bronze medal and Junior World Cup qualification at the Junior Pan American Games in Mexico. She returned to Princeton in time for the majority of the Tigers’ near-perfect NCAA championship season, where she earned second-team all-Ivy honors as the team’s third-leading goal scorer - despite her five-game absence.

The field hockey team, one of Princeton’s most dominant athletic programs, won the Ivy League title for 16th time in the past 17 years in the 2010 season. For such a consistently accomplished squad, though, the campaign was a bittersweet one for the No. 6 Tigers. Amassing both personal and team triumphs but plagued by injuries, the team found itself unable to match the success of the 2009 group that advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

A season that began with national championship hopes for the field hockey team ended Sunday afternoon, as the No. 6 Tigers (14-5 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) fell 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament to No. 3 Virginia (18-3). Princeton advanced to the quarterfinal round following Saturday’s 3-1 victory over No. 13 Wake Forest (10-10).

With a tough nonconference schedule survived and another undefeated Ivy League campaign on the books, the field hockey team now looks to make a deep run into the NCAA tournament and contend for the national championship. No. 6 Princeton (13-4 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) will take on No. 13 Wake Forest (10-8) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va., in the first round of the tournament.