Field hockey wins Ivies

This weekend, the field hockey team sent out a message to the rest of the Ivy League — no one comes into Class of 1952 Stadium and pushes it around.

Princeton (9-6 overall, 6-0 Ivy League) clinched its 12th Ivy League title in 14 years — which brings with it an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament — with a resounding 3-1 victory over rival Harvard (2-13, 2-3) on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, the Tigers capped off a successful weekend, by shutting out No. 19 American (10-6, 3-0) with a score of 1-0.

The outcome of Saturday's battle with the Crimson was in doubt until late in the game.

With eight minutes, 25 seconds gone in the second half and the score knotted at one, Princeton took the advantage.

With the Tigers pressing in the offensive zone, Harvard goalkeeper Kelly Knoche came far out of the net to challenge sophomore attack Kristin Schwab for a loose ball. Schwab won the challenge and wristed a shot past Knoche, but her attempt went wide of the net.

Being in the right place at the right time, sophomore defender Holly McGarvie capitalized on the rebound by shooting the ball into the open net, putting Princeton ahead, 2-1, and adding the only score needed for the victory.

The goal was McGarvie's seventh of the season.

The Crimson drew first blood in the game when midfielder Aline Brown sent a shot past senior goalkeeper Allison Nemeth with 9:30 gone in the first half, giving her team a 1-0 lead.

Facing the one-goal deficit, the Tigers responded quickly, scoring a goal less than three minutes later. After receiving a pass from junior midfielder Paige Schmidt, sophomore attack Leah Hoagland blasted a shot past Knoche for her third goal of the season, tying the game at one apiece.

After McGarvie's crucial go-ahead goal early in the second half, the Orange and Black scored again to put Harvard away for good. With 14 minutes left in the game, sophomore attack Katie Kinzer controlled the ball in the offensive end and got Knoche's attention. When Knoche came out towards her, Kinzer quickly passed the ball to freshman attack Tina Bortz, who circled around a defender and shot the ball into the empty net. Princeton was able to ride out the 3-1 lead to victory.

Though the Tigers defeated the Crimson, Hoagland emphasized that her team did not play as well as they could have.

"There was excitement over the win, however, we were a little disappointed about the level at which we played," Hoagland said. "We didn't play incredibly well and knew that we didn't play to our potential. We just put the game behind us and looked forward to the [game against] American."

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If Princeton was at all dissatisfied with the way it played on Saturday, then Sunday's win definitely provided a boost of confidence. The Tigers — who had gone 1-5 against top-25 nationally-ranked teams before the game against American — were able to stave off the Eagles in a close game and come away with a 1-0 victory.

Though Princeton outshot American 10-6 in the first half, the team was unable to capitalize on any of these opportunities.

The game remained scoreless until 44:05 when Kinzer deftly handled a pass from Hoagland and delivered a shot past Eagle goalkeeper Allison Fayfich to break the 0-0 tie. This was Kinzer's seventh goal of the season, as well as her fifth game-winner, proving that she can come up big in key situations.

Nemeth played solidly the entire game, saving all 10 shots that came her way. She recorded her third shutout of the season.

The Tigers only have two games remaining this season, and both are at home. They play Rutgers on Sunday and Penn on Nov. 3.

Hoagland knows that the Tigers cannot take these last two games for granted, since they will be good practice for the NCAA tournament.

"We are more focused now than ever before," Hoagland said. "Winning the Ivy League title is huge for us. We are focused [on the tournament] and determined to do well."