Field hockey shuts out Big Green

Though the Big Green took possession early, it was not able to register even one shot against sophomore Tiger goalkeeper Jen King. Princeton, however, wasted little time, capitalizing on its first penalty corner just over three minutes into the match.

Freshman midfielder Katie Reinprecht inserted the ball for senior midfielder Kraftin Schreyer, who blasted the ball into the lower-left corner of the cage. Despite this early conversion, much of the upcoming practice time will undoubtedly be devoted to improving that aspect of the game, as Princeton failed to finish on its seven subsequent first-half penalty corners. The Tigers had so many missed opportunities that players were understandably disappointed heading into the half.

“We just have to be accountable,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. “We had the opportunities, it was just slowing yourself down so that you can execute.”

The Big Green defense, particularly sophomore defender Virginia Peisch and freshman goalkeeper Meagan Vakiener, held strong. It limited the Princeton offense to just four goals despite the Tigers’ 33 shots and 12 corners.

“I think we had a really great game overall,” King noted. “The first half we had a little trouble finishing. But then halftime came, and we knew exactly what we had to do.”

Princeton came out with a vengeance in the second half. Starting strong, freshman attack Kathleen Sharkey finished off a brilliant cross from Katie Reinprecht. The tip-in capped off a sensational string of passes. Senior midfielder Sarah Reinprecht started the sequence with a feed into the 25 to senior attack Kristin Schwab, who made her presence felt all afternoon with several crosses that generated Tiger chances. In perhaps the most spectacular of them all, Schawb’s pass went through the legs of the Big Green defender to Katie Reinprecht, who found Sharkey.

“The first half was kind of rough. We had a lot of opportunities and were not finishing,” Katie Reinprecht said. “In the second half, we just worked on putting them away.”

And that the Tigers did. Just six minutes later, Schwab fed freshman midfielder Alyssa Pyros, who lifted the ball into the top-left corner of the cage, converting the two-on-one opportunity for the third Princeton goal of the game.

Pyros’ goal, her first of the season, epitomizes the strengths of the Tiger attack: solid ball movement downfield and finding the open shooter. Sarah Reinprecht and Schwab both distributed the ball excellently all game long. Vakiener’s goaltending was one of the only things keeping the Tigers from double digits.

“I thought we moved the ball really well,” Holmes-Winn said. “One of our goals was to get outside their pressure. We really did a good job staying balanced in our attack. As a result, we had a lot of opportunities. Just, unfortunately, we were not able to finish on them all.”

The Tigers were, however, able to finish one more time in the closing minutes. With a little more than 12 minutes remaining, freshman midfielder Allison Behringer sent the ball up close to the net. Showing impressive hustle and determination, junior attack Tina Bortz came across from the goalie’s right side, deflecting the ball across the keeper’s body. Bortz’ tip gave her an angle around the goaltender, and she sent the ball into the lower-right corner of the cage with a diving swing.

“At halftime we talked about what Tiger field hockey is,” Arner said. “That first half was not Tiger field hockey.”

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The notion of Tiger field hockey has driven the program to several successful seasons. The combination of good ball sharing, setting up scoring chances and a stifling defense proved to be too much for the Big Green on Saturday.

“I’ve never played with a better team in my four years here,” Schreyer said. “I feel like we have more [potential] than anybody knows yet.”