Field hockey retaliates after heartbreaking loss to Maryland

On Friday night, the field hockey team showed that it can hang with the best.

The Tigers (5-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) lost a heartbreaking 3-2 game in overtime to No. 3 Maryland (10-0) on Friday night in Maryland.

Nearly beating the red-hot Terrapins was a good sign of things to come for Princeton.

On Sunday afternoon, the Tigers maintained their perfect Ivy League record by posting a 5-1 victory over Columbia (0-8, 0-3).

Princeton's match against Maryland was statistically dominated by the Terrapins.

Maryland earned more than three times as many shots and penalty corners than the Tigers in the game. The Terrapins held a 26-7 advantage in shots and earned ten penalty corners compared to the Tigers' three.

Despite the statistical dominance, the Tigers kept themselves very much in the game.

"We matched up pretty well against Maryland, despite what the statistics say," senior captain and midfielder Claire Miller said. "Most of the game was played in the midfield."

This kind of game was expected from two teams that excel in controlling the ball.

Maryland was the first to break through and score, with junior Colleen Barbieri netting a goal with 14 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first half.

Early in the second half, the Terrapins began to show more dominance, taking more shots and earning more penalty corners.

Maryland sophomore Jackie Ciconte netted the second goal of the game five minutes into the second half.

Down 2-0 late in the second half, the Tigers flashed signs of brilliance, mounting a comeback with under four minutes left in the game.

Although the Tigers did not manage to create much offense throughout the game, with three minutes left, Princeton broke through the Maryland defense and took two shots that were deflected by the goalie.

Sophomore attack Maren Ford picked up the rebound on the second shot and fired it into the back of the net to cut the Terrapin lead to one.

Eighteen seconds later, Ford found sophomore attack Natalie Martiro-sian after the Tigers intercepted a Maryland pass.

Martirosian beat the Maryland goalie on a one-on-one opportunity, stunning the Terrapins with the game-tying goal.

The game headed into overtime, and the Terrapins had the first good opportunity to win it, but were stopped with freshman goalie Juliana Simon's save on a penalty stroke.

Miller almost won the game with nine minutes remaining, but her shot deflected off the post. Maryland won the game on their second penalty stroke of overtime.

"Maryland was a tough loss," said head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn. "But we showed that we can match up with any team."

A lesser opponent

The Tigers returned to action on Sunday afternoon, with a match against a Columbia team that was practically the polar opposite of the undefeated Terrapins.

Columbia has been winless in eight games this season, and gave the Tigers a chance to work on some new strategies in pressure situations.

Princeton came out of the blocks a little slowly, going the first 20 minutes of the game without a goal.

"We were a step off at the beginning," Miller said. "But we picked up by the end of the first half. The last play of the first half, our passing was like a pinball machine going down the field."

Although the Tigers were a step off, they still controlled the game, rarely allowing any offensive chances for the Lions.

After 20 scoreless minutes, junior attack Lauren Quinn registered the first goal of the game on one of Princeton's many offensive drives.

Junior midfielder Shahrzad Joharifard and Miller also scored before the end of the half. Columbia managed one goal of its own off of a penalty corner to make it 3-1 at the half.

The second half was much of the same story, with the Tigers controlling play on Columbia's side of the field, while the Lions fended off shot after shot. In the end, the Tigers outshot their opponent, 37-6. Miller had two goals and five points in the Tigers' 5-1 victory.

Aside from the victory, the game showed the Tigers what they still need to work on.

"We changed things up today, dragging one of the low strikers into the backfield," Winn said. "Our ball speed still needs to be better in the backfield."

The Tigers showed flashes of brilliance in their games this weekend, but did not do so with consistency. As Princeton improves its consistency, its sights will be set on bigger and bigger things.