Field Hockey: Dominating defense paces Princeton

Last Saturday, the No. 4 field hockey team beat Brown, 5-1, at Warner Roof behind a total team effort. All 19 injury-free Tigers saw playing time as Princeton (11-2 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) pummeled the Bears (4-8, 0-4), besting them in shots, 31-2, and in penalty corners, 18-1.

“We have a couple players who are not full-strength,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. “I was really happy to see different people step up and be very effective in those roles. To have key players out and be able to maintain the level [of play] is really great.”

The Tigers controlled the whole game but were particularly dominant in the first half, when Princeton scored all five of its goals. Sophomore midfielder Katie Reinprecht led off at 5 minutes, 17 seconds into the game, when her shot from the top of the circle made its way through traffic and into the back of the cage.

Just 1:50 later, freshman striker Michelle Cesan scored unassisted to give Princeton a 2-0 lead. Reinprecht notched her second goal of the game, and ninth of the season, off a penalty-corner opportunity when she blasted the ball into the cage from the top of the circle, bringing the score to 3-0 at 12:37.

At the end of the half, freshman midfielder Carrie Diamond chipped in two consecutive goals, her second and third of the season. With 3:28 remaining in the half, senior midfielder Kaitlin Donovan passed the ball to her left to Diamond, who put the ball in the back right of the goal. Three minutes and two seconds later, Reinprecht also found Diamond to her left, and Diamond converted again, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead.

Brown midfielder Kelley Harrison scored the only goal of the second half with 4:21 left on the clock, putting the ball inside the right post and past senior goalie Cynthia Wray, who had subbed in for junior goalie Jennifer King at the half.

While Brown’s goal was the only tally of the second half, Princeton continued to control the pace of play. The Tigers outshot the Bears, 13-1, in the half, and Brown goalie Caroline Washburn posted nine saves to keep Princeton scoreless in the frame. “We generated a lot of opportunities but had a lack on finish in the second half with how many chances we had,” Holmes-Winn said.

Brown’s turf is unusual not only because it is located on a roof, but also because it is not regulation size.

“[Warner Roof’s field is] 10 yards narrower, so you can’t expand the field. You can close down the ball much more quickly when the ball is transferring,” Holmes-Winn said. One of the Tigers’ strengths is their ability to move the ball and expand the field, so the size was “a little bit of an equalizer.”

With their win, Princeton remains the only undefeated team in the Ivy League. The Tigers have been Ivy League champions 14 of the past 15 years, a commanding streak that was only interrupted by a championship shared by Harvard and Penn in 2004.

Not only does Princeton dominate the Ivy League as a team, but sophomore striker Kathleen Sharkey has been named Ivy League Player of the Week three out of the six weeks this season in which it was awarded, including the last two weeks. Sharkey leads the league in shots (87), points (34) and goals (13). Sharkey places third in assists with eight, and Reinprecht ranks fourth in this category with seven.

In the next two weeks, the Tigers face two of the three Ancient Eight opponents remaining on their schedule. On Saturday, the Tigers travel to Cambridge, Mass., to play Harvard (5-7, 2-2), and they return home the following Friday to face Cornell (8-3, 2-2). Harvard and Cornell are in a three-way tie for third place in the league with Dartmouth, which the Tigers beat, 6-1, in September.