Field Hockey: Princeton unbeaten in league

When you dream big, it’s easy to let the details slip. But the No. 4 field hockey team isn’t letting its bid for the NCAA championship overshadow another goal: the Ivy League title.

Princeton starts to look like a big fish in a small pond when you consider that it has won four consecutive Ancient Eight titles and a total of 17 in its history.

And it has proved its worth this season, defeating perennial powerhouses Syracuse and Connecticut. Princeton also came tantalizingly close to taking down defending champion No. 1 Maryland.

On Saturday, the Tigers (10-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) will face Brown (4-7, 0-3) on the Bears’ rooftop field in Providence, R.I. Though Brown’s record may not be as spotless as Princeton’s, the Tigers understand that they must be relentlessly aggressive in this match.

“We don’t want to underestimate anyone,” sophomore midfielder and co-captain Katie Reinprecht said.

Brown isn’t exactly a pushover: The Bears demonstrated offensive competence in their win against Vermont on Oct. 4. Forward Leslie Springmeyer, a native of New Jersey, lead the Brown attack with five goals and five assists on the season.

Princeton hopes to use Saturday’s matchup to sharpen several aspects of its game.

“We really need to tighten up in the next two weeks,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. “We’re working on building more variety in our outletting and becoming more sophisticated in how we use the midfield.”

Overall, Holmes-Winn said she is optimistic about how the team is progressing over the course of the season.

To be sure, the Tigers are working overtime to improve their performance. Senior striker and co-captain Christina Bortz emphasized her teammates’ drive to constantly better themselves on and off the field.

“We’ve been really trying to analyze our weaknesses on game film,” Bortz said.

Considering the success these Tigers have had thus far, it’s easy to forget that the team is still very young. Nine players from last year’s team graduated, including seven starters.

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Bortz, one of only five seniors currently on the team, knows how important it is to get everyone involved in the game.

“We want to make sure that our whole bench gets into the game,” Bortz said.

“We’re always looking to improve our depth chart.”

Though Princeton is coming off a tough stretch in its schedule, inexperience has not harmed the team’s record. The Tigers pulled off a 3-2 come-from-behind victory against American last Sunday, and it was sophomore striker Kathleen Sharkey, the team leader with 13 goals and eight assists, who netted the game-winner.

After the close loss to Maryland, the win against American bolstered the Tigers’ confidence.

“It was definitely heartening to find that we could pull through for the win despite a frustrating match,” junior goalkeeper Jennifer King said. “That ability to execute when necessary is absolutely critical to winning against the best teams, and last weekend we proved that we have that capability.”

The game against Brown is the first of three consecutive Ivy League meetings. On Oct. 24, the Orange and Black will pay Harvard a visit, and on Oct. 30, the Tigers will play at home against Cornell at Class of 1952 Stadium.

To stay unbeaten in the Ivy League and inch closer to a national championship, the Tigers will have to step up against the Crimson and the Big Red.

“We want to dominate every phase of the game,” Holmes-Winn said. “It’s not just about winning, but about absolute domination.”

If Princeton is going to be unstoppable in the national arena, it has to establish its authority during the end of the season.

“Dominating the Ivy League is and must be our first priority, because winning these games will define our path into the NCAA tournament,” King said. “These teams tend to bring a lot of passion and energy into their games against us, but we have a statement to make before the postseason.”