Offense struggles as field hockey splits weekend

Frustration seemed to be the main theme for field hockey this weekend.

Princeton (7-3 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) had trouble turning scoring opportunities into goals, and wound up splitting its games this weekend. On Saturday, the Tigers fell, 2-1, to No. 13 UConn, but beat Rutgers on Sunday, 3-1, at the Class of 1952 field.

Princeton statistically dominated both opponents, holding an extreme edge in both penalty corner opportunities and shots. UConn and Rutgers, however, were able to capitalize on more of their scoring opportunities.

"When you control play, dominate stats, and don't win, it's definitely frustrating," head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said.

"We had so many shots, and so few goals," junior attack Natalie Martirosian added.

There was no doubt that the Tigers dominated play on Saturday against UConn (9-4), especially in the second half. The Tigers held a 23-11 advantage in shots, and held an enormous 19-1 edge in penalty corners earned.

After a 34-minute stalemate, UConn was the first to get on the board as Lauren Henderson put the ball past freshman goalie Juliana Simon during a one-on-one opportunity, giving the Huskies a 1-0 advantage at the half. In the second half, the Tigers dominated play, taking shot after shot, and earning numerous penalty corners.

The Huskies, however, were the first to score in the second half, posting a goal 29 minutes into the period. That goal was one of only three shots UConn could muster in the half. Four minutes later, Princeton finally got on the board with junior midfielder Shahrzad Joharifard's unassisted goal.

Right after Joharifard's goal, with two minutes left in the contest, Martirosian nearly tied the game after getting the ball in UConn territory, but Husky goalie Maureen Butler came out to kick the ball away.

Butler, the preseason Big East Defensive Player of the Year, had an impressive game, notching 13 saves while allowing just one goal.

A combination of allowing UConn to score on its few opportunities, while not capitalizing on their own opportunities led to the Tigers' demise in Saturday's contest.

"We have to touch the ball into good space, have good footwork," Holmes-Winn said about finishing. "It's just a little block we have to dislodge."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

On Sunday afternoon, the Tigers started anew against Rutgers (7-8), and showed some improvement, especially on the defensive end.

Princeton got off to a shaky start, and lacked flow in its passing game. The Tigers kept the ball mostly on Rutgers' side of the field, but were unable to capitalize early in the game.

Rutgers scored the first goal of the game at the 6:43 mark, on their first penalty corner opportunity.

Fourteen minutes later, the Tigers answered back as Martirosian drove the ball down the right side of the field and crossed it past the goalie to sophomore attack Maren Ford. Ford easily deposited the ball to the back of the net to tie the game at one.

After the half, Ford notched the next goal of the game on a rebound off the Rutgers goalie. Junior attack Lizzie Black added an insurance goal with 21:34 left in the game with a hard shot to the left side of the cage on a penalty corner.

"Today's focus was to be aggressive and score," Martirosian said. "We would have liked to see more goals, but our defense really stepped up from yesterday."

One of the reasons for Princeton's improved defense Sunday was better footwork, according to Holmes-Winn.

Another minor problem in the game seemed to be the tendency to get trapped against the sideline, which was where much of the game was played.

"We need to be able to switch the ball, and transfer," Martirosian said. "Our high forwards are good at sprinting to the sideline, which is where we usually pass to, but we really need to turn and go inside."

No doubt the Tigers will be working out the kinks in their game plan this week. With their tough Ivy League opponents Brown and Harvard coming up soon, they will have ample opportunity to take out their frustration.