Virginia trumps field hockey in Charlottesville

So close, yet so far away. Yet again the field hockey team (3-8 overall, 2-1 Ivy League) played a solid game but could not get a win.

Similar to last weekend's loss to No. 11 Richmond, Princeton's offense dominated the second half but the end result was still a defeat. No. 18 Virginia's two early second-half goals stood up to the Tigers' explosive attacks and the Cavaliers (7-6) emerged victorious, 2-1, at University Hall Field in Charlottesville, Va., on Sunday afternoon.

"We are trying not to think too much about the outcomes of these close games. We are constantly improving and are in good position to peak towards the end of the season for the key Ivy League games," head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. "Despite our losses our team has a high level of confidence."

In the first half against Virginia, the teams were evenly matched, and the game was scoreless heading into halftime. However, the second half was a much different story as both teams scored early.

Just over a minute into the second half, Virginia scored a fortuitous goal when Allison Flynn shot the ball from the left sideline, and teammate Abby Taylor scrambled to touch it in. Less than two minutes later, the Cavaliers found the goal again on a penalty corner. Mia Link had a beautiful flick to the back of the net on an assist from Biffy Cornelison and Sarah Miller.

Senior defender Kelly Darling got the Tigers back into the game with a great tip off of an assist from senior attack Lizzie Black to make it 2-1. From there on out Princeton offensively controlled the game, outshooting Virginia, 10-3, and taking six penalty corner opportunities. But the talented Virginia defense was able to thwart all of the Tigers' efforts. Julianne Bojanic made a key defensive save and Logan Carr had four saves in goal in the final 35 minutes of play to preserve the Cavaliers' lead. Despite the problem of not finishing offensive attacks and coming up with the same frustrating outcome of so many of Princeton's games this season, the match against Virginia featured plenty of positives. The Tigers were particularly successful at maintaining good position, distributing the ball well, and generating shots. The defense also played well as a unit, and the sidebacks, whose position overlaps as back and attack, were particularly effective.

"[Senior sideback] Ashley Sennett was very dangerous on Sunday," Holmes-Winn said. "She originally played attack but has since become very comfortable in the sideback position. She has been making great decisions for us."

In addition to Sennett, Darling and Black continued their stellar play this season. Holmes-Winn also lauded senior Alexis Martirosian and junior Hillary Schmidt for their outstanding midfield play.

Another highlight for the Princeton squad was the return of sophomore goalie Allison Nemeth. Nemeth pulled her quad in warm-ups for a scrimmage against Penn earlier in the season and was unable to play prior to this weekend. Nemeth's return to goal was solid as she made two clutch first-half saves.

Although the Tigers' future may look bleak in light of their weekend loss and dismal record, the team actually has a lot to look forward to.

The last two losses have come to top-20 teams, but both have been non-conference games. That leaves Princeton in contention for the Ivy League title — and the NCAA tournament trip that goes with it — provided it can pull off big wins against Brown (3-6, 1-2) and Cornell (2-8, 1-3) this coming weekend. Furthermore, Dartmouth, the only Ivy League team to beat Princeton this season, lost this weekend to Yale, whom the Tigers defeated. This leaves No. 17 Harvard as the sole undefeated team in the league.

With any luck the Tigers will be able to take their confidence and make the important transition from close losses to decisive victories in their upcoming Ivy League matches.