Junior attack Rachael Becker nets three as field hockey sweeps weekend action

If Derek Zoolander, in the new fim of the same name, could make it to the top of the modeling world with only one look and without the ability to turn left, the multi-dimensional field hockey team should be feeling pretty good about its prospects.

This weekend, in action against Connecticut and Ivy League rival Brown, the Tigers showed just how many different winning looks they have. And, in responding to second-half suspense against Connecticut, they proved that they can turn in whatever direction victory requires.

Saturday in Providence, R.I., the Tigers revealed a new look, something like Zoolander's "Le Tigre," except that it actually looked quite different than the usual Friebe frenzy. Five different Tiger players scored goals, and junior attack Ilvy Friebe, hard as it may be to fathom, only scored once.

Junior attack Rachael Becker set the tone a little more than five minutes into the game with a goal assisted by Friebe. A minute later freshman midfielder Natalie Matirosian scored off a penalty stroke. By the time the first half was over, the score was 5-0 and, for all intents and purposes, the game was over. The Bears scored one goal in the second half, but the Tiger lead was insurmountable.

History cannot be erased, but it can be forgotten, and after Saturday's shellacking, Brown will have to work hard to remember that they once beat Princeton.

But Sunday was a different day, and in what started out as a defensive battle against UConn at 1952 Stadium, the Tigers revealed a third, equally effective look when things began to get tight in the second half. The title for Princeton would be the Becker Barrage.

After last weekend's disappointing loss to non-conference opponent Penn State, Princeton knew this was a game that had to be taken seriously.

"We felt that it was really important to rebound today. We knew the game was very winnable, but that Connecticut was tough and physical," Becker said.

Though the Tigers might have been mentally primed for the game, it did not always show in their play. In the first half, the Tigers squandered quite a few offensive opportunities and, for a seven-minute stretch at about the sixteen minute mark of the half, allowed Connecticut to completely dominate the flow of the game.

Fortunately for Princeton, junior defender Emily Townsend had scored a goal at the 16:12 mark — the lone goal scored by either team in the half.

The action heated up in the second half, as Connecticut tied the score with 20:35 left in the game. But then Becker decided to take matters into her own hands. Barely a minute later she scored a goal assisted by Matirosian. The Tigers celebrated on the field, and for a few moments it appeared as though the Connecticut balloon had been deflated.

For a very few moments.

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With 16:59 left, the Huskies scored again, tying the game at two. But Becker's brilliant play had barely begun. After Friebe barely missed a lunging shot at the goal, Becker struck again, scoring an unassisted goal at the 11:52 mark. Connecticut might not have known it at the time, but the fat lady had begun to sing.

The Tigers successfully fended off two consecutive Husky corners with about six minutes left, and then, controlling the ball near the Connecticut goal, dribbled the clock away.

According to Becker, the Tigers felt a bit like they had dodged a bullet after the game — "Everyone was tired after playing yesterday, and when they tied the score in the second half we got really nervous. It feels great to be able to come out of today with a victory."

Next in line for the Tigers is an away game at Harvard, with the Ivy League title on the line. Will the Tigers already-revealed looks be enough, or will Cambridge be the site of the unveiling of a new and different image?