On Senior Day, it was a freshman who led the field hockey team to its biggest victory of the season.
Two early scores gave Princeton (9-3 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) all the scoring it would need to knock off No. 7 Old Dominion (10-6), as freshman goalie Allison Nemeth withstood a barrage of shots from the Monarchs. She made 12 saves to propel the Tigers to a 2-1 win.
A day earlier, Princeton remained perfect in league play with a 2-0 road win over Brown (7-5, 2-2).
All season long, the Tigers had claimed they would be nearly unbeatable when they played their best for an entire 70 minutes. Finally, they backed up their words.
Heading into Sunday's home game, Princeton, ranked 11th nationally, was 0-3 against top-15 teams this season. In each game, the Tigers dominated for stretches, but mental lapses on defense and missed opportunities on offense proved too much to overcome.
This game, however, was different, as Princeton's intensity and focus never waned, and Nemeth's prodigious play compensated for any defensive mistakes.
From the opening face-off, it was clear that the game would rest upon the shoulders of the goalies. Both the Tigers and Monarchs play an aggressive and up-tempo game, pressing and attacking at every chance. By the final whistle, they had combined for an astounding 35 shots and 25 penalty corners.
The opening moments were especially frantic. Each team fired a shot on goal in the first 30 seconds. Throughout the first half, the squads raced up and down the field faster than the wind could carry the fallen leaves that littered the turf.
Six minutes and 18 seconds in, senior co-captain and midfielder Cory Picketts opened the scoring, putting the ball past the fallen Old Dominion goalie off a deft crossing pace from junior attack Lizzie Black.
The Tigers stretched the lead to 2-0 at the 10:17 mark, when junior midfielder Natalie Martirosian rifled a shot that flew by the Monarch goalie and loudly thudded against the boards at the bottom of the cage.
Feeling the game slipping away, the Monarchs came alive in the last five minutes of the half. They scored their first goal off a penalty corner, when Beth Maddox blasted a shot from the top of the circle.
Old Dominion kept the pressure on, initiating an offensive blitzkrieg in the final 1:20 thanks to five penalty corners, including two with no time remaining. But the Monarchs might as well have been shooting at a brick wall. Nemeth simply could not be beaten, making six superb saves to protect the lead.
"I just stayed focused and kept thinking that each second and each play could determine the whole outcome," Nemeth said.
Behind the momentum gained from Nemeth's epic goal line stand, Princeton controlled the action to begin the second half. The Tigers created multiple scoring chances, but could never quite convert for an insurance goal.
Roughly halfway through the second stanza, the momentum swung back to Old Dominion. The Monarchs again began creating multiple penalty corners and bombarding Nemeth with shots. But the Princeton defense remained poised, sending long clears out of the circle whenever possible.
Most importantly, the Tigers had Nemeth on their side. She was up to the challenge, making four crucial saves and surviving a penalty stroke that went wide. And when time expired, her teammates mobbed her.
"Emotionally, its really satisfying," head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said of the win. "In terms of urgency and dedication to each moment, we were absolutely on."
Ironically, Princeton hadn't played nearly as well on Saturday against Brown. The Tigers had struggled with spacing on the Brown field, which is smaller than regulation size and is located on the roof of a building.
Still, the effort was enough against the Bears. Nemeth played well in goal, and Black and junior attack Ashley Sennett notched goals for Princeton.
Any lingering bad taste was quickly dispelled on Sunday. Finally pushed over the hump by their freshman goalie, the Tigers served notice that they have arrived among the nation's elite.
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