Martirosian leads field hockey past Yale

Twice this weekend, field hockey played an outstanding first half, only to follow it with an inadequate second half effort. On Saturday, the Tigers escaped with a win, but on Sunday they were not as lucky.

Princeton (3-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) began its weekend looking for its 19th-straight victory over visiting Yale (1-2, 0-1). Early on, it appeared the streak would go on without any trouble.

The Tigers, who entered the weekend ranked 10th nationally, jumped to a 2-0 halftime lead behind goals from junior attack Lizzie Black and sophomore attack Maureen Ford. When junior midfielder Natalie Martirosian scored an unassisted goal just five minutes into the second half, the game appeared to be decided.

Bulldog comeback

But the Bulldogs refused to go quietly and closed the gap to 3-2. Black's second goal of the game, with five minutes left, appeared to put it away. But Yale answered with two more goals in the next three minutes, knotting the game at four.

Four minutes and seventeen seconds into the sudden-death overtime, junior defender Kelly Darling found an open Martirosian in front of the goal. She deposited the ball in the back of the cage, giving Princeton a 5-4 victory.

"I saw Kelly with the ball and with defenders approaching her, so I positioned myself so that she could slip me the ball," Martirosian said. "I just one-timed it to the right corner against the grain of the goalie's movement."

Although the Tigers walked away with a win, the second-half letdown was a disturbing sign heading into Sunday's game against Penn State (5-1), the nation's fourth-ranked team. "We were extremely sloppy [Saturday]," head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. "We're a talented and skilled team, but we have to avoid mistakes, especially against top competition."

Early on against the Nittany Lions, the Tigers showed no signs of the prior day's second-half malaise. They controlled the offensive action throughout the first half, and were rewarded for their aggressiveness with five first-half penalty corners. Penn St., meanwhile, drew none.

The Tigers got on the board first, taking advantage of a penalty corner drawn by Darling. Senior midfielder Cory Picketts tallied the goal, with an assist from Black.

"In the first half, we played our best hockey all season," sophomore attack Lauren Erlichman said.

The Nittany Lions' only goal of the half came off of a breakaway. Timarie Legel snuck behind the Tiger defense with seven minutes, 30 seconds left in the half and juked freshman goalie Allison Nemeth to the ground.

Nemeth redeemed herself, however, with several tough saves late in the half. Most impressively, she lunged to her right to stone a pointblank penalty stroke with 13 seconds remaining. Fellow freshman goalie Julian Simon, who spent the second half defending the Tiger goal, continued the trend.

Princeton pulled ahead, 2-1, seven minutes into the second period off a beautiful penalty-corner play. Black received the first pass and left the ball behind her back for junior attack Alexis Martirosian. She blasted a shot on goal, which Erlichman deflected into the cage.

Second half malaise

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they would draw just one more corner for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, Penn State became decidedly more aggressive in the second half than it had been in the first, drawing six corners. With 25 minutes to play, Legel evened the game at two with her second goal, this time diving to the turf as she shot.

"They came out with more intensity," Holmes-Winn said. "We didn't respond and couldn't minimize their momentum."

The Nittany Lions stayed on the prowl, creating multiple scoring chances over the final 15 minutes. But overtime seemed inevitable, as Simon and the Tiger defense stood tall and Penn St. missed wide on three pointblank shots.

In the end, however, Legel would not be denied. With 1:23 remaining, she sliced and diced her way through the defense and fired a shot that Neilye Stoner was able to redirect past a sprawled Simon. The Tigers were unable to get off another shot before time ran out.

Against one of the nation's top teams, a mental letdown was too much for Princeton to overcome. Still, there were promising signs, including a strong first half and stellar goalkeeping. Ultimately, the game demonstrated that Princeton's fate depends on improving mentally.

"We fought hard, but we're not playing to our full capability," Holmes-Winn said. "We just have to be disciplined for 70 minutes."