Field Hockey: Princeton takes pair from Columbia, Connecticut

The No. 7 field hockey team trampled Columbia, 4-0, on Friday at Class of 1952 Stadium before trouncing No. 5 Connecticut, 3-1, on Sunday. Princeton handed the Huskies (11-1 overall) their first loss in what sophomore striker Kathleen Sharkey called “an amazing win.”

“It was a total team effort,” Sharkey said, “and we’ve been working really hard in practice this week, so this is a culmination of all our hard work.”

Princeton’s dominating performances last weekend solidified its top-10 ranking and earned the Tigers (9-1, 3-0 Ivy League) first place in the Ivy League standings, as they are still undefeated in conference play.

The Tigers made quick work of Columbia (3-5, 1-2), rarely letting the Lions near the cage.

“We kept things really clean. We say we want the 25 [the 25-yard line] to be the top of our circle and make sure we don’t allow the opposition to penetrate our circle,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. And that was exactly what Princeton did, only allowing the Lions one shot and one penalty corner opportunity during the game. Junior goalkeeper Jennifer King posted her third shutout of the season behind the standout efforts of the defense.

Four different Tigers scored the four Princeton goals in the victory over Columbia. Freshman midfielder Julia Reinprecht put the first point on the board 12 minutes, 24 seconds into the first half when she found the rebound and tapped it into the net.

Almost two minutes later, freshman midfielder Molly Goodman scored her first career goal when she tipped in a rebound from freshman striker Michelle Cesan’s reverse chip, giving Princeton a 2-0 lead. Senior striker and co-captain Christina Bortz scored the third goal of the game at 24:23.

The Tigers’ final goal, and their only goal of the second half, came off a picture-perfect penalty corner. Cesan inbounded the ball to sophomore midfielder Alyssa Pyros, who tapped the ball to sophomore midfielder Katie Reinprecht on her right. Katie Reinprecht passed the ball to Sharkey, who found the back of the cage and gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead at 45:33.

The same stingy defense that shut out Columbia successfully shut down a scrappy and tenacious Connecticut team on Sunday.

“We played within our structure very well. We had a lot of discipline, and our defenders were just phenomenal,” Holmes-Winn said.

Princeton dominated the game from the start and spent most of the opening minutes on attack, taking seven shots and attempting two penalty corners, but Connecticut found the back of the net first. Fourteen minutes into the game, Huskies forward Loren Sherer took advantage of a one-on-one fast break and reverse-chipped the ball into the right corner of the cage, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

Despite an early deficit, the Tigers continued to outplay the Huskies all over the field. Princeton’s poise with the ball and precision passing under heavy pressure enabled the Tigers to create many scoring opportunities.

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Princeton’s first goal was set up by an interception from Sharkey, who ran the ball up the left side of the field. Pyros received the ball outside the circle and blasted it toward the cage, where sophomore striker Rachel Neufeld one-touched it around Huskies goalkeeper Andrea Mainiero, tying the score at 26:56.

Just 65 seconds later, Sharkey tallied the Tigers’ second goal when she rocketed a reverse chip into the top left of the cage, giving Princeton a 2-1 lead. Connecticut called a timeout and exploded back onto the field, but it was unable to rattle the Tigers, who successfully held off the Huskies’ surge in the final two minutes of the first half. Princeton and Connecticut battled back and forth in the second half, but the only goal came from Julia Reinprecht, who pounded the ball into the cage from the top of the circle at 52:32, giving the Tigers the 3-1 lead they held on to for the rest of the game.

Both teams took 12 shots and attempted four corners. In an evenly matched game, the Tigers came out on top because of their ability to translate opportunities into points.

“We executed when we needed to, and I think that was the difference today,” Holmes-Winn said.

President Tilghman attended the Sunday game, who noted that, “In general, we dominated Connecticut. I thought we dominated more in the first half than the second half, but I thought we played a really good game.”

After the resounding victory, the Tigers are well-positioned for their Wednesday night matchup against No. 1 Maryland.