Princeton hits stride after half

This week’s tilt with Harvard went much the way of last week’s contest against Yale. The Tigers allowed their opponent to stay in the game in the first half before they recovered and ran away with the game in the second.

“I think we came out a little nervous and sat back a bit on defense,” junior midfielder Holly McGarvie said. “After their quick goals, we realized that we needed to step it up and play defense like we had been practicing all week.”

The Crimson took an early lead with two goals in the first two minutes, 28 seconds of play before a three-goal run gave the Tigers a slim lead. The score stayed tight with back-to-back goals from Harvard’s Jess Halpern, and teammate Caroline Simmons found the goal with eight minutes left in the half to give the Crimson the lead at 6-5. The Tigers took some momentum into halftime when a goal from senior attack Ashley Amo with nine seconds left on the clock gave the Tigers a 7-6 advantage. After giving the Crimson some hope in the first half, Princeton held on to the lead for the remainder of the game.

After halftime, the Tigers looked more like their undefeated selves. Princeton scored first for an 8-6 lead, but the Crimson cut the lead to 9-8 with 24 minutes left in the game. At that point, the Tigers took control of the field with seven straight goals in 15 minutes. Amo started the run with 22:36 left on the clock, and McGarvie scored on an eight-meter shot to give Princeton an 11-8 lead three minutes later. Freshman midfielder Lizzy Drumm scored next with 18 minutes of play remaining. After a failed eight-meter attempt by the Crimson, junior attack Christine Casaceli kept the run going and gave the Tigers a 13-8 lead. Harvard managed to drive to the goal twice but was shut down by freshman goalie Erin Tochihara. Harvard’s Natalie Curtis finally ended the Tigers’ offensive onslaught with her second goal of the game and 20th goal of the season with 5:12 left in the game. The Tigers wrapped up the game with two more goals in the final three minutes of play.

“After halftime, we came out with a different mentality,” McGarvie said. “We knew that we needed to be more patient on offense and really work for the right options, and that’s what helped us score.”

The Tigers had too many offensive stars for the Crimson to track, as Harvard’s defense found itself bombarded from all sides. Drumm led the team with five goals, and McGarvie added four goals and four assists. Amo had a career-high six points with four goals and two assists, and Casaceli added three goals. The Tigers scored on 18 of 31 shots, outshooting the Crimson 18-9 in the second half.

“[Harvard’s] zone defense was not successful against our offense, especially in the second half,” McGarvie said. “I think that was their biggest weakness.”

The Tiger defense took some time warming up, but after allowing the Crimson to score eight times in the first 36 minutes of the game, it let in just one goal in the final 24 minutes. Sophomore goalie Kaitlyn Perrelle helped limit the Crimson with five saves in the first half, and Tochihara kept the offensive run going with four saves after entering the game 5:44 into the second half.

This week’s win was Princeton’s 16th-straight victory against Harvard. The Tigers have averaged nearly 18 goals per game against the Crimson over the past five seasons.

The Tigers return home to face No. 7 Penn (10-1, 5-0), the only other team undefeated in Ivy League play, on Wednesday. After defeating Dartmouth in Hanover on Saturday, Penn has the best record among the Ancient Eight — a lofty perch that Princeton is eager to contest.