Field hockey drops first conference game since '99 season

The bumps continued for the women of the Princeton field hockey team this weekend, as the Tigers' record dropped to 1-5 with losses to No. 2 Maryland (8-0) Friday night and Ivy League-rival Dartmouth Saturday afternoon. Though plagued with poor weather during both games, the teams fought it out at the Class of 1952 Stadium. The Tigers were left disappointed in the downpours though, as home-field victories were not to be had this weekend.

The Tigers' extended their losing streak to Maryland to seven straight games with Friday's loss.

While one streak remained intact, another was shattered as Dartmouth took home a 3-1 win on Saturday afternoon, the first time that the Tigers have lost a single game in Ivy League play since the 1999 season. In the upset, not only did Dartmouth end Princeton's 32-game winning streak in Ivy League contests, but it also ended its own 15-year losing streak to the Tigers dating back to 1989.

The last league loss for Princeton was a 2-1 decision to Brown in 1999. Since then, the Tigers have gone 7-0 in Ivy League competition over each of the last four seasons. Since the beginning of the 1994 season, the Tigers are 67-2 in Ivy League play.

The Tigers took the lead in the first half of the game, with junior Hillary Schmidt assisting her sister Paige in scoring the lone goal for the Tigers 16 minutes into the game.

Going into halftime, it looked as though the Tigers would extend their Ivy League winning streak. However, the Big Green tied up the game only 2:26 into the second half, as Dartmouth's Lindsay Gossage intercepted a pass and put the ball past Simon into the goal. The Big Green then took the lead from the Tigers as Audrey Knutson ran the ball down the field and passed to Ashley Choren who, despite losing her balance and falling on the turf, managed to send another shot into the cage. Then, with just under 12 minutes remaining in regulation, Dartmouth's Shala Byers drove the ball into the cage to bring the Big Green lead up to 3-1. The Tigers went into Friday's game against Maryland with a six-game losing streak against the Terrapins, the Tigers hoped to avenge their loss against Maryland in the 2003 season. That game went into a thrilling overtime session, with the Terps finally pulling it out on a penalty shot. On Friday, the Tigers would not make it that close. Maryland got off to an early lead and, though Princeton put up a determined fight in the first half, never looked back, finally winning 7-1 after halftime lead of only 2-1.

Paula Infante of Maryland, the Terps' leading scorer, banked three goals on the night, including two early on in the second half. Though on the sidelines for several minutes midway through the game due to a yellow card, Infante came back firing and scored her third goal for Maryland with eleven minutes remaining in the game. Janneke van Leeuwen, Anja Boettcher and Tiffany Marsh of Maryland scored in the final seven minutes of the game to pull the lead from 4-1 up to 7-1. The Terps have outscored their opponents 39-4 thus far this season.

Despite the lopsided final score, Princeton was undeniably the toughest opponent that Maryland has faced this season. At halftime the Tigers had managed to hold the Terps to only two goals and a slim 2-1 lead, a much closer game than what the Terps have been accustomed to this season. With less than five minutes remaining in the first half, junior Hillary Schmidt scored the lone goal for the Tigers shortly after Infante's first goal to give Maryland a 2-0 lead. Schmidt scored on a rebound of a penalty corner situation to trim the lead and keep hope alive.

Princeton outshot Maryland 9-8 in the first 35 minutes of the game and had 14 shots on goal in all, equalling as many as Maryland allowed from the rest of its opponents in its first seven games combined.

Juliana Simon, Princeton's sophomore goalie, played all 70 minutes of the game and made six saves in the game. Maryland goalie Christina Restivo boasted 11 saves for the Terps, including several diving stops that robbed Princeton of possible game-changing goals. Restivo managed to block three penalty-corner situation shots set up by senior defender Lizzie Black.

Though they put up a fight, the Tigers eventually collapsed under the weight of the Terps, as Maryland gained its seventh straight win over the Tigers dating back to the 1999 season.