Old Dominion beats field hockey at Class of 1952 Stadium

So many scoring opportunities but so few goals to show for them.

This has become a theme at the midpoint of field hockey's season. Princeton dropped another tough decision, 4-1, to No. 4 Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium. Princeton (4-4 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) came into the game desperate for a win to prove that they actually do belong among the nation's elite teams. However, after controlling play for much of the afternoon, the Tigers once again fell short.

Princeton both outshot and outcornered the Lady Monarchs. The team took a whopping 18 shots, five more than Old Dominion. In addition, Princeton earned 14 penalty corners, at one point getting three straight, only to come up empty each time.

Close calls were the name of the game for the Tigers, and they came early and often. Less than eight minutes in, Princeton got its first penalty corner. The ball was played to senior defender Emily Townsend. Townsend tried to lift the ball to the goalie's stick side. She was successful as the goalie flailed helplessly at the ball, but the shot was just high.

With eight minutes left in the half, and the Lady Monarchs leading 1-0, the Tigers had some of their best opportunities. On two occasions Princeton could not take advantage of loose balls floating around the Old Dominion circle.

Becky Loy scored the Lady Monarchs lone first half goal when she redirected a shot between the legs of senior goalkeeper Kelly Baril. The Tigers had hoped to start strong, but were unable to do so.

At the 4:25 mark of the second half, Princeton got the first of three consecutive penalty corners. The Tigers thought they had scored on the last one, but the goal was disallowed because of a penalty.

With just over ten minutes gone in the second half and Princeton down 2-0, sophomore attack Ashley Sennett had another golden opportunity with the ball in the circle and the goalie out of position. However, she was not able to make solid contact with the ball, and a Lady Monarch defender was able to stop and clear her shot.

The Tigers lone goal came at the 13:27 mark. Friebe had camped out by the left post of the Old Dominion goal and Sennett dribbled the ball down the right side of the field. She cut to the left as she neared the end line, and threaded a pass behind the goalie and along the end line to Friebe at the opposite post, who redirected the ball into the cage.

"[Head coach] Beth [Bozman] has told us to get to the goal and put your stick down," Friebe said. "Ashley made a great pass and the ball just hit my stick."

However, Princeton's joy would be short lived. Just as Michigan St. did, Old Dominion followed with a goal less than a minute later. Thirty seconds after Friebe's goal, Anna Rogers sliced through the Tiger defense and slapped a shot past Baril. As soon as Princeton had gotten some momentum and crawled back into the game, Old Dominion delivered a knockout blow.

Four minutes later, the Lady Monarchs put the icing on the win with another goal.

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Princeton would continue to pressure and develop opportunities as they had done all game. However, once the Tigers got into the circle they could not finish their shots.

In addition to the lack of goals, Princeton also suffered from more than one defensive lapse. The Tigers did not play disciplined field hockey after they scored to get back into the match.

"We must be more composed after we score goals," Friebe said.

Old Dominion is the third highly ranked opponent Princeton has lost to, and while the Tigers should still make the NCAA tournament by winning the Ivy League title, the Tigers are not happy with the outcomes of these games.

"We put a lot of weight on these games, Bozman said, "and these are games that we should be winning."

When asked why the team was having such difficulty in putting the ball in the cage after developing good scoring chances, Bozman could only shake her head.