Field Hockey: Tiger defense shines in shutout

It is often said that tough losses build a team’s character. When a team suffers the agony of defeat, the pain creates moral fiber. On Wednesday night, the field hockey team proved its character.

On Sunday, No. 7 Princeton (6-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) suffered a 2-1 loss — a heartbreaking defeat that ended a five-game winning streak to start the season — at the hands of a defensively talented Providence squad. It was the first time all season that the Tigers had scored less than three goals in a game.

On Wednesday evening at Class of 1952 Stadium, Princeton bounced back remarkably well with a convincing 3-0 victory over Penn State (2-7).

“It was really important to get that victory,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. “I think we didn’t have a bad game on Sunday against Providence, but to be able to put points on the board was really crucial for us, and to win with some conviction was important tonight.”

From the very beginning of the game, the Tigers looked stronger than the Nittany Lions and played more aggressively. The Tigers simply looked hungry for a victory.

After a couple of early scoring opportunities by Penn State and a couple of key saves from junior goalkeeper Jennifer King, the Tigers took control of the matchup. And they never let up.

Relentless in its pursuit of drawing first blood, Princeton cashed in on one of its first scoring opportunities of the night. Freshman striker Michelle Cesan fed a pass to sophomore striker Kathleen Sharkey, who floated the ball past Nittany Lion goalkeeper Ali Meves with four minutes, 23 seconds gone in the first half. The goal was Sharkey’s eighth of the season, a team best.

The first goal proved to be all the momentum the Tigers needed to get going. Though the Tigers did not find the back of the net again in the first half, they had several scoring opportunities and amounted considerable pressure in Penn State’s defensive zone.

Holmes-Winn said the difference in the game was Princeton’s ability to elude Penn State’s early pressure in the first half.

“We had to play around [their] pressure,” Holmes-Winn said. “We started doing that in the second half. That really paid off for us. We were able to get underneath their pressure.”

In the second half, the Tigers’ offensive chances translated into points, and they were able to put the game away. After a penalty corner, sophomore midfielder Katie Reinprecht took advantage of a rebound opportunity. She passed the ball to Cesan, who snuck the ball past Meves for Princeton’s second goal of the game at the 41:14 mark of the second half. Cesan, who is having a breakout rookie season, is third on the team in scoring with four goals and four assists.

A promising sign for the Tigers was that they were not satisfied sitting on a two-goal lead. A little more than five minutes later, senior back Kaitlyn Perrelle, who had a great game defensively, quickly shot the ball in traffic and found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season. Princeton then rode its 3-0 lead to victory.

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The game was offensively one-sided in the Tigers’ favor, as they outshot Penn State by a 25-8 margin. Ten of the Orange and Black’s shots belonged to Sharkey, who looked especially impressive. Meves had her hands full with the Orange and Black offense; she made 14 saves in the game.

King, who played the entirety of the matchup, came up with five saves in the shutout win. Overall, Princeton’s defense successfully held forward Christine Dudek, the Nittany Lions’ leading scorer, to no shots in the game.

Penn State has now lost a total of seven games to ranked teams this season. Though it is 22-6 all time against Princeton, the Tigers have won the last three meetings between the two squads.

Princeton’s win over Penn State marks the beginning of a five-game homestand, which includes two games against Ancient Eight opponents. The Tigers face Yale on Saturday at noon in a crucial Ivy League matchup. Then on Oct. 2, Columbia comes to town for a 6 p.m. game.

Holmes-Winn said the matchup against the Bulldogs could be a tough test for her team.

“Yale is a really good team,” Holmes-Winn said. “They have a great goalkeeper, and they are all around very solid. They are undefeated in the league right now with a win against Harvard. It will be a big game for us against a good team.”

If last night’s victory over Penn State is any indication of where the Tigers are headed, the Bulldogs may have their hands full with a resurgent Princeton squad.