Tigers win one, lose one

This weekend, the field hockey team played two games with two quite different results. On Saturday, the Tiger offense was hitting on all cylinders in a dominating 6-1 win over Ivy League rival Brown. On Sunday, however, the horsepower was kept in check by a tough 3-2 loss to Hofstra.

With first place in the Ivy League standings at stake, Princeton (7-6 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) made a statement in the 6-1 shellacking of Brown (7-3, 3-1). The game was a crucial one for the Tigers, who snapped a two-game losing streak — they had suffered losses to No. 10 Connecticut and No. 1 Maryland the previous week — in the convincing win over the Bears.

Most of the first half was uneventful, with neither team able to capitalize on early penalty corner opportunities. Princeton senior goalkeeper Allison Nemeth made important saves early on to keep the Bears off the board and ended the game with eight saves.

With three minutes, 21 seconds left in the first half, the Tigers drew first blood when sophomore defender Holly McGarvie tapped in a shot attempt from junior midfielder Paige Schmidt. This goal jump-started a Princeton offensive attack that did not let up until the final whistle sounded.

Less than two minutes after McGarvie's goal, Schmidt fired a rocket from the top of the key to make the score 2-0. Junior defender Micaela Vie Brock was credited with the assist.

Brown showed offensive life early in the second half, capitalizing on one of its seven shot attempts during this stretch to make the score 2-1. The goal came off the stick of forward Stacy Gugliotta with 25:22 left in the game.

Gugliotta's goal, however, would be the lone moment of glory for the Bears. Less than three minutes after getting within a goal, Brown found itself down a pair of goals after a score from Tiger sophomore attack Kristin Schwab. Schwab weaved in and out of defenders before shooting the ball past goalkeeper Kristen Hodavance into the net.

From that point on, the Tiger offense lit up, with goals coming off the sticks of three different players. Freshman midfielder Kaitlin Donovan scored her third goal of the season with 13:54 left in the game when she received a brilliant pass from Schmidt and shot cleanly past Hodavance into the goal. This made the score 4-1 in favor of the Orange and Black.

Junior attack Sarah Yuki got her fourth goal of the season at 66:48 to make the score 5-1. Then, with two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game, Schmidt fired a shot from the top of the circle and made the score 6-1, which stood until the final whistle.

With her two goals and pair of assists, Schmidt led the Tiger offense to its fifth win in as many games against Ancient Eight competition.

Schmidt recognized that this was a key game for her team to win.

"This was definitely an important game for us in terms of Ivy League standings," Schmidt said. "Brown was the only other undefeated team remaining in the conference, so we were a little nervous. Once the game started and we began to play our type of hockey, it came together for us."

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When asked about her two goals, Schmidt credited her fellow teammates for their execution.

"Both of the goals I scored were off penalty corners," Schmidt said. "Micaela [Vie Brock] had great inserts, and Holly [McGarvie] screened the defense well, so all I had to do was hit the ball on cage."

Schmidt also noticed that the energy emanating from the crowd — and the entire Tiger squad — was high during the game and contributed to their success.

"We have a great group of parents and friends who support our team every time we play," Schmidt said. "We could definitely feel the support from the crowd, but I think the energy coming from our team and coaches was even more motivating."

After the emotional high of Saturday's win, the loss to Hofstra was a tough one to swallow for the Tigers.

With the score tied at two apiece at the 49:58 mark of the second half, Pride midfielder Reyna Farnum blasted a shot past Nemeth for the game-winning goal.

In the first half, the game was scoreless until the closing seconds when Hofstra midfielder Kara McEneaney capitalized on a penalty corner to give her team a 1-0 lead heading into halftime.

With 4:05 gone in the second half, Schwab scored her second goal of the weekend by trickling a shot past Pride goalkeeper Jessica Cowperthwait to tie the game at one.

At 41:39, Princeton took a 2-1 lead when Schmidt scored her third goal of the weekend. The lead, however, did not last long. Two and a half minutes later, Hofstra midfielder Charlia Wagner rebounded her own shot into the net to knot the game at two.

The Tigers get a chance to redeem themselves and continue their Ivy League dominance when Harvard visits Saturday at noon.