Communication crucial in victory

With the score tied at two after the first quarter, sophomore utility Helen Meigs made a quick pass across the pool to sophomore utility Phoebe Champion, who pumped once and shot, hitting an empty spot in the upper-right side of the net. Shortly after, freshman utility Tanya Wilcox managed to get some separation from the two-meter defender, got up high and put one past the Seahawk goalie.

No. 18 Princeton (3-2 overall) shut out Wagner (0-3) during the second quarter, ending the half with a 5-2 advantage.

Last weekend, the Tigers dropped games against No. 6 San Diego State and No. 15 Michigan mainly due to communication errors and trouble defending against six-on-five situations. Wednesday night, Princeton communicated better and almost shut out the Seahawks completely during six-on-five opportunities.

“We worked a lot on our man up/man down situations [these past days],” senior goalie Natalie Kim said. “It’s very important that you capitalize on those six-on-five opportunities because they can win or lose a game for you.”

Along with the noticeable improvements during man-advantage situations, the Orange and Black also showed some depth out of two meters. Freshman driver Lauren Brunner showed talent in two-meters early in the third quarter, fighting for possession and eventually getting enough separation from a to shoot on goal.

Good communication throughout the second half, along with constant motion from the point and wing positions, allowed Princeton to keep control of the game.

“We did really well on a lot of things, especially our driving motions,” Kim said. “We’re still a really young team, and we’re getting used to each other.”

The Tigers’ superb conditioning helped Princeton counterattacks in the third create opportunities on offense. Wagner, on the other hand, was often caught off-guard, allowing the Tigers to draw numerous ejections. After a good counter late in the third, the Tigers found themselves with a two-on-none, allowing for a quick goal.

Playing a huge part for the Princeton defense was Kim, who had eight saves during the first three quarters of the game. Freshmen driver Sarah Hutchison and utility Julie Phillips, along with sophomores center Lauren Sabb and Champion each had two goals in the contest, while Meigs had numerous crucial assists.

Despite all of the opportunities created, however, Princeton still had trouble putting the ball away, mainly due to simple mental errors.

“We just didn’t seem ready to play, and I felt that we had too many missed chances,” head coach Luis Nicolao said. “We need to find out a way to put shots away when you have them. Today we just came out flat and missed a lot of easy opportunities in the first half.”

“It was tough, since we had practice this morning,” Kim said. “Next time, we just need to leg up and work on putting the ball away.”

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Princeton kept its lead throughout the fourth, putting another three goals on the scoreboard and limiting Wagner to only two goals in the last 15 minutes of play.

But even those two goals were too many for Nicolao.

“We’re still trying to learn each others’ habits, working on finishing our shots and getting up big,” Nicolao said. “It’s a mindset, and we’re just not ready yet. Today we were just flat out there.”

The next challenge for the Tigers will be to continue building their team chemistry into the coming weekend as they face three opponents on the road at the Maryland Invitational.