Princeton shuts out two foes

It's official: Princeton field hockey is rolling.

Two losses are never a great way to start a season, but they don't hurt quite as much if you bounce back and handily win the next four games. That's exactly what the Tigers (4-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) have done after defeating Columbia (3-4, 0-2) and Colgate (5-5) last weekend.

The Lions hit Class of 1952 Stadium's slippery turf Saturday afternoon in search of their fourth consecutive win, only to be thwarted as Princeton showed why the Orange and Black are the undisputed favorites to repeat as Ivy League champions.

The game started off with a close call for the Tigers when a Columbia player beat sophomore goaltender Cynthia Wray with a shot that clanged off the goalpost just under five minutes after the opening whistle. Both teams then settled down and played more defensively, with each side's opposing attackers having difficulty connecting long passes and getting off clean shots.

Princeton suffered another scare midway through the half when sophomore attack Tina Bortz was accidentally hit pointblank in the side of the head by a high Columbia clearing attempt. She sat out for the remainder of the first half, but returned to start the second, raring to go.

"It hurt really bad, and I had a headache almost immediately," Bortz said, "[but] getting hit just gave me more motivation to try to run faster and work harder."

The first 35 minutes ended in a scoreless tie, and, perhaps surprisingly, the Lions were still in the game.

"Throughout the first half, we were really playing down to their level," junior midfielder Kraftin Schreyer said. "We knew we had to elevate our game, especially by increasing the level of communication, putting earlier pressure on them and finishing when we had opportunities."

Schreyer capitalized on her own golden opportunity when she was awarded a penalty stroke 15 minutes into the second half. She sent a hard wrister flying into the cage to give Princeton the lead as well as tally her first career collegiate goal.

"I'm not going to lie; it felt amazing," Schreyer said. "Maybe I'll even get to do it again sometime."

Senior midfielder Paige Schmidt gave the Tigers an insurance goal a little over 15 minutes later when she scored off a penalty corner, and junior midfielder Sarah Reinprecht put the game away with four minutes left, getting another goal off a penalty corner that was nearly stopped by a Columbia defender but dribbled over the line.

Wray foiled a penalty corner attempt as time expired to post her second shutout and secure the 3-0 win for Princeton, which has never lost to the Lions in 11 matches.

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The next day, Colgate tried its hand at beating the Tigers but ended up on the wrong side of a 5-0 blowout.

"We really played our game and our style of hockey," Schreyer said of the victory. "We were able to dictate the tempo and control possession, which was reflected in the score after the first half."

Princeton led by three goals at halftime, having dominated play almost from the get-go. After three shots either missed or were blocked, Bortz found the back of the net midway through the half with her fourth shot of the game and fourth goal of the season. Sophomore defender Kaitlyn Perrelle followed that up several minutes later with her first career collegiate goal, and junior attack Kristin Schwab upped the lead to three just minutes later.

Freshman goalkeeper Jennifer King made her first collegiate appearance in the match, replacing Wray in the second half and ultimately earning a combined shutout while making five saves.

Junior attack Leah Hoagland fired home another goal two minutes into the second half, and from then on the Tiger bench got some rare game time as Princeton's victory was all but assured. Almost the entire lineup was switched up, allowing sophomore midfielder Katherine Cape to score her first collegiate goal on a deflection of a shot from Perrelle with about 10 minutes left, bringing the score to 5-0.

"It was a great weekend for us, and today was an exceptional game, not because of the score but because everyone got a chance to play," Schreyer said.

The Tigers have now scored 12 unanswered goals over the past three games and have not allowed a goal for over 200 minutes. Thus rolling, they will next face No. 2 Maryland (9-0) on Wednesday night at College Park.