Win over Penn seals title

Momentum is an interesting concept -- once you get the ball rolling, it can gain enough energy to topple most obstacles in its path.

But you didn't have to stay late in physics lab to learn that. Over Fall Break, the field hockey team taught its three opponents some hard lessons about the power of momentum.

Led by eight different scorers, the Tigers (13-4 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) won 5-1 over Virginia Commonwealth (5-13) on Oct. 26, 9-1 over Monmouth (4-12) on Oct. 30 and became Ivy League champions with a 3-1 victory over Penn (8-9, 4-3) last Friday. No. 18 Princeton will now enter its NCAA play-in game against Massachusetts tomorrow riding a nine-game winning streak, the longest string of victories since the team's 10-game streak in 2001.

The Tigers got their Fall Break play off to a commanding start against the Rams of VCU. Sophomore attack Kaitlin Donovan and junior midfielder Holly McGarvie contributed a goal apiece in the first half to put Princeton up 2-0, but six minutes, 32 seconds into the second half VCU's Jenna Harris snuck a shot past sophomore goalkeeper Cynthia Wray.

It wasn't until sophomore attack Tina Bortz slapped in a rebounded save 15 minutes into the second half that the Tiger offense really turned up the volume. McGarvie followed Bortz's goal with another score, knocking a ball out of midair into the cage to make the score 4-1. Then, with 1:21 left to play, senior attack Paige Schmidt scored off a penalty corner to seal the win.

Princeton's match against Monmouth four days later got off to a slow start, as junior midfielder Candice Arner's score stood alone for almost 15 minutes. Monmouth's Holly Hooven finally tied the game at 14:28, but this spurred the Tigers on to an offensive barrage unlike any other they have mounted all season.

Less than 30 seconds after Monmouth's counterattack, junior attack Leah Hoagland fed a quick pass to Bortz inside the circle, who converted it into her first goal of the game. Bortz would slip two more past the Hawks on the day, scoring again at 21:54 and 55:23.

Bortz was hardly the only one creating havoc inside the circle though, as three more Tigers converted shots of their own. Sophomore defender Kaitlyn Perrelle scored at 18:23, junior midfielder Kraftin Schreyer at 49:47 and sophomore midfielder Katherine Cape at 59:53 and 62:09 before the final whistle. The box score also shows Princeton's focus on involving all players in the offensive effort — over the course of the win, every starting player, except for goalkeeper Wray, registered at least one shot on goal.

The Tigers brought high hopes into Friday's game against the Quakers, though it remained to be seen whether Princeton could continue to rack up points against a more competitive league foe like Penn.

Those doubts were quickly done away with, as Schmidt led the Tigers with two first-half goals in her final regular season game. Schmidt hammered a pair of penalty corners past Penn goalie Alanna Butera at 14:15 and 29:36.

Head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn could only rave about her players' intensity and quality play.

"Playing on the [grass] surface is a huge advantage for Penn, and we had to really change how we played our game," Holmes-Winn said. "If you had been there, you would have seen that these girls didn't let up for a second of those 70 minutes."

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The Quakers did not respond until 17 minutes into the second half, when Penn's top scorer, Nicole Black, tipped in a pass from the right side. Princeton would not let its Ivy rivals challenge its championship, however, and McGarvie answered Black's goal three minutes later, knocking in a rebound and securing victory for the Tigers. The Ivy League title is the Tigers' third straight and their 14th in 15 years.

Not long afterwards, though, according to Holmes-Winn, the Tigers had stopped celebrating and started looking ahead to their next challenge.

"It took them about 10 minutes, and then they were on to the next thing," Holmes-Winn said. "This group of girls has tremendous focus."

Princeton now looks forward to its matchup against Atlantic-10 champion Massachusetts (13-8), with a berth in the NCAA tournament at stake. The two teams will meet for the first time ever at 1 p.m. at Class of 1952 Stadium tomorrow, though the Minutemen have faced off against several of the same opponents as Princeton during the season. Massachusetts' games against Dartmouth, Richmond and Brown were decided by one-goal margins — including a loss to the Big Green — while Princeton ran away with victories over the same teams 4-1, 5-1 and 5-0.

Given Princeton's recent success at racking up high scores, Massachusetts could be in for a shock. The Tigers, though, would do well to watch out for sophomore Cher King, who leads the Minutemen in scoring with eight goals so far.

Rolling out of the regular season in high spirits, the Tigers will look to carry their momentum into the postseason tomorrow, inching ever closer to the NCAA tournament.