Field Hockey: League leaders look for victory

Fresh off two big wins against Brown and American, the field hockey team is ready to take on its next big Ivy League opponent, Harvard.

The No. 4 Tigers (11-2 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) have posted decisive victories against all of the other Ivy opponents they have faced so far, including a 4-0 shutout against Columbia, a 5-2 victory against Yale and a 6-1 win against Dartmouth.

Princeton will be going into its game against Harvard (5-7, 2-2) with confidence, as it is coming off a commanding 5-1 victory over Brown. The Tigers’ strength in the Brown game, freshman midfielder Carrie Diamond said, was applying offensive pressure.

“We kept the ball in their end [of the field] for the majority of the game. We finished most of our chances during the first half, having a 5-0 lead at halftime. We had a lot of presence and pressure all over the field,” Diamond said.

With a full week between the Brown game and Saturday’s game against Harvard, the team has been focusing on fixing any problems in its play. Head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said the Tigers have not been focusing specifically on the Harvard game for their practices, but instead are “trying to continually plug away at the places where we’re a little deficient.” These areas have included possession, the attack off penalty corners and counterattacks.

“We want to be sure that we’re completing the number advantage situations where we have a lot of speed, good numbers and a lot of green to work with,” Holmes-Winn said. “We have to make sure that we’re using the right passes and passing style … With Brown, we had many more chances where we didn’t finish, and that was a little disappointing, so we’ve been focusing on that.”

The team has big goals in mind, including winning the Ivy League and advancing deep into the NCAA tournament.

“Our goal is that we want to make it to the Final Four, so the next two weeks are about getting better as a team and individually and improving our team fundamentally,” Diamond said.

Still, despite their lofty aims, the Tigers have not lost sight of their smaller, daily goals.

“The girls are very focused on the moment,” Holmes-Winn explained. “They work incredibly hard every day, and that’s something that I appreciate about these guys: that they’re not just talking about winning national championships, they’re doing the work to make that a reality.”

Much of the team’s success to this point can be attributed to the play of its younger members, including Diamond, who was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

“It’s a really cool honor and a neat way to represent Princeton, especially as a freshman,” Diamond said.

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Holmes-Winn commented that the honor is “no surprise, really.”

“She’s been playing great in practice,” Holmes-Winn added. “Deceivingly effective” is a good way of characterizing Carrie. She gets the job done and makes it look effortless. She always seems to keep possession and be in the right places.”

Diamond was recognized for scoring two goals in the game against Brown. She now joins freshman midfielder Michelle Cesan and freshman midfielder Julia Reinprecht in winning Ivy League Player of the Week honors this season.

Holmes-Winn also attributed the team’s success to the players’ hard work and determination.

“The great thing about this team,” Holmes-Winn said, “is that they really do all work hard every day. That gives us the confidence and the feeling that we’ve done everything we can to put ourselves in a position to compete against opposition, and I think that that is our foundation, and that’s what makes them compete effectively week after week.”

A Princeton victory over Harvard this weekend would represent a big step for the team toward its goal of winning the Ivy League title.

“It’s always an intense rivalry,” Holmes-Winn explained. “Harvard always plays a great game against us, so we need to be able to come out and to match their energy and their enthusiasm and make sure that’s in place, and execute from there.”