One is enough for OT victory

Princeton football fans making the trek up to Harvard only to see their bonfire hopes crushed may have bemoaned their lot Saturday in Cambridge, but, unbeknownst to most of them, a different contingent of the Orange and Black was celebrating victory just a short walk from Harvard Stadium.

In a door-die matchup almost certain to decide this year's Ivy League field hockey champions and the accompanying automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the Tigers (10-4 overall, 5-1 Ivy League) defeated the Crimson (7-7, 3-2) in the 12th minute of overtime. The 1-0 victory guarantees them at least a share of the Ivy League title.

The winning goal was scored on a penalty corner with three minutes, 12 seconds remaining in overtime. Sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Donovan hit the ball to senior midfielder Paige Schmidt, who fed a pass to junior midfielder Candice Arner. Arner sent it right back, and Schmidt fired a shot that Donovan was able to redirect inside the goalpost to put away the game and kick off Princeton's celebration.

"Scoring the goal felt awesome," Donovan said. "We had worked so hard all game, and it was great to finally get some results from all our efforts."

The game statistics suggest that the Tigers dominated the match. Harvard was outshot 19-6, and sophomore goaltender Cynthia Wray was only forced to make two saves, both in the second half. Princeton also earned 14 penalty corners, including four in overtime, to the Crimson's three.

"We played really well the whole game, but just could not convert our opportunities. We had control of the ball for the majority of the game and kept it in their end of the field," Donovan said.

Nevertheless, the Tigers couldn't stump Harvard goalkeeper Kylie Stone for the first 81 minutes, as the Crimson junior lived up to her name with a nine-save performance that kept her team in the game. Donovan said that Stone's inspired play and the ability of Harvard's defense to limit scoring opportunities didn't discourage her and her teammates enough to make mistakes at the other end of the field.

"Our overall team attitude was very impressive. In a game where you have so much sustained attack, it can be hard to keep pressing the entire time and not let down on defense," Donovan said.

Junior attack Kristin Schwab said her team was prepared to shut down the Crimson's key scorers, Tami Jafar, Kristin Bannon and Devon Shapiro.

"Going into the game, we knew that Harvard had a few skilled and fast strikers. Throughout the game, our defenders did a great job of defending against the counterattack and neutralizing these players," Schwab said.

This allowed Princeton to focus on offense and let its big scorers go to work. Schmidt, who has a cannon of a shot and leads the Tigers with 57 shots this season, launched six shots in the game, while sophomore attack Tina Bortz, junior attack Katie Kinzer and Donovan had three apiece.

Princeton and Harvard entered the game as the two contenders for the Ivy League title, with one conference loss each as the Crimson lost to Yale the week before. But even with the Tigers' championship winning streak on the line, Donovan said the team wasn't nervous before the game. Princeton had won its last 13 matchups with Harvard.

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"We knew that we could win this game if we played up to our potential. I think everyone was relaxed and focused coming into this game and just ready to get the job done," Donovan said.

To win the Ivy League outright and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the Tigers will likely have to defeat Penn (7-8, 3-2) on Nov. 2. Though Princeton is now the only team in the league with just one loss, four are currently tied for second place with two losses, including Penn.

The winners of six straight, the Tigers are on a roll heading into the final three games of the season, making third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance a very real possibility.