Sophomores lead field hockey in rout of Dartmouth

Field hockey continued its annihilation of Ivy League teams this past weekend, defeating Dartmouth 9-1 on Saturday afternoon at 1952 Stadium. Sophomores midfielder Natalie Mart-irosian and attack Ashley Sennet each recorded hat tricks to lead the Tigers to victory.

Princeton is now 3-0 against Ivy League teams this year and has outscored its league opponents 22-2. The team is 3-1 overall, with its only loss coming to non-conference Ohio, and will ride a three-game winning streak into next weekend's game against a tough Maryland team.

Princeton controlled play right from the start against Dartmouth, scoring a goal less than two minutes into the game. The Tigers got the ball in deep against the Big Green and senior defender Emily Townsend put a rebound past the Dartmouth goalie to give Princeton a quick 1-0 lead.

Princeton continued to put pressure on the Big Green as Dartmouth was unable to get the ball out of their own half. With 27:49 left in the first half, senior attacker Ilvy Friebe dribbled past two Big Green defenders and slapped a high shot over the pads of the goalie, putting the Tigers ahead 2-0.

Throughout the first half junior midfielder Claire Miller dictated play and was responsible for keeping Princeton on the offensive. Time after time Miller stole the ball from Dartmouth players who were trying to advance past midfield. She set up both goals scored by Sennet in the first half with pinpoint passing.

At the 9:22 mark Miller stole the ball from a Dartmouth midfielder and passed to a streaking Friebe. Friebe used the open space that the Big Green gave her and attacked the net. She drew three Dartmouth players to her, including the goalie, and passed to a wide open Ashley Sennet on the left post. Sennet finished the job, giving the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

Only two minutes later Miller again stole the ball from a Dartmouth midfielder and dribbled through open space. She spotted Sennet wide open on the left post and made a perfect pass that Sennet put past the diving goalie for a 5-0 lead.

"Ashley works hard to make cuts and get open," Miller said. "It makes the job easy for me."

In the second half Miller again found herself with the ball in open space after taking it away from a Big Green player. This time, however, she went ahead and put the ball in the net herself.

"I had an open 50 yards ahead of me and was just looking to advance the ball," Miller said. "Ilvy made a cut to pull a defender away from the goal which opened up a shot for me."

As the game winded down and the result was all but decided, there was still one thing left to be accomplished. Sennet and Martirosian both needed one more goal for their first career hat tricks, and each got a third goal.

"It was awesome," said Sennet.

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After a game like this one, in which the Tigers executed everything well, confidence grows. The team only appears to be getting better with time after starting the season off with a loss.

"I was a little disappointed with how we started, but we're getting there," coach Beth Bozman said. "We played hard for 65 minutes and had five minutes of lapse, but nine goals against an Ivy League team feels good."

After three games against Ivy League teams, all of which were blowouts in Princeton's favor, the Tigers have got to feel good about their chances this year. Their toughest Ivy League opponent may be Harvard, but as Friebe said, "It is obviously not Dartmouth or Yale."

Princeton will have a week of practice before playing a tough Maryland team this coming Friday. "It is still early and we need to keep trying to do what we are doing," Bozman said. "We are moving the ball faster and our defense is getting better, but we still need to work on communication."

This Friday's game against Maryland will be a big game for the Tigers. While Ivy League games are most important — and it appears that Princeton has a good grip on the Ivy League — a game against a team like Maryland will test how good the Tigers really are.