Tigers drop two before defeating Yale

The field hockey team (1-2 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) began its 2007 season in the same fashion as it did last year, opening its schedule with two losses to ranked, non-conference teams before coming up with a victory over Yale.

The regular season got underway Sept. 2 in Washington, D.C., when the Tigers squared off against No. 16 American (3-0). Princeton was victorious in last year's game against the Eagles and looked good early in this year's rematch when sophomore attack Tina Bortz scored the first Tiger goal of 2007 midway through the first half for a 1-0 lead.

A few minutes later, the Eagles countered with one of their own to tie the score, but junior attack Katie Kinzer quickly responded to put Princeton back on top heading into halftime. American drew even several minutes into the second half.

The teams battled back and forth for the next 20 minutes until the Eagles' Denise Infante converted on a goalmouth scramble to give American a last-minute victory.

Sophomore goalkeeper Cynthia Wray, making her first career collegiate start, made three saves for the Tigers in the 3-2 loss.

Princeton, which had been ranked No. 18 in the STX/NFHCA preseason poll, dropped out of the Top 20 as a result of the defeat.

The Tigers began home play Wednesday night at Class of 1952 Stadium against No. 6 Penn State (2-1), which had won the past seven meetings between the two teams. The Nittany Lions put two balls past Wray in the first 15 minutes of the game — one a poke-in near the back post and the other the result of an unlucky bounce in front of the net after Penn State's Britney Long buried a deflected crossing pass off a Tiger stick.

Princeton's leading scorer from last year, junior defender Holly McGarvie, pulled the Orange and Black within one three minutes later when junior attack Leah Hoagland found her with a quick pass for her second assist of the season.

The score remained 2-1 for another 30 minutes of play until Penn State's offense blew three shots into the opposite cage to pull away and ultimately win, 5-1. Nittany Lions' goalkeeper Jen Beaumont turned aside eight Tiger shots as her team extended its dominance of Princeton to eight consecutive victories.

Princeton knows a thing or two about dominance itself, having won 13 of the past 14 Ivy League championships. Another year of supremacy got underway Saturday when Yale (0-3, 0-1) visited Class of 1952 Stadium, staring 22 straight losses to its host in the face.

Princeton controlled play for most of the first half, but it wasn't until 27 minutes into the game that the scoreless tie was broken when the ball squirted out to McGarvie in front of the Bulldog net, where she promptly disposed of it for her second goal of the season.

Yale goalkeeper Charlotte Goins was the focus for much of the game, as her 13 saves kept the Bulldogs from falling further behind, but a fancy feed from senior midfielder Paige Schmidt off a penalty corner and the resulting shot by junior midfielder Sarah Reinprecht from the top of the circle eluded Goins to give the Tigers an insurance goal in the final two minutes.

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Princeton held on to win 2-0. The victory gave Wray — who made two saves — her first career shutout and earned the Tigers their first victory of the season.

If last season's similar first week of action is any indication, Princeton shouldn't be discouraged by this year's 1-2 start. The 2006 Tigers went on to win the Ivy League championship with a perfect 7-0 league record and upset Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA playoffs before falling to Connecticut in the quarterfinals.