Field Hockey: NCAAs open with No. 14 Stanford

For the field hockey team, the road to the national title begins on Saturday at Class of 1952 Stadium.

Fourth-ranked Princeton (14-2 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) will take on 14th-ranked Stanford (17-4 overall) at 11:30 a.m. in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. The second match of the day, played at 2 p.m., will feature eighth-ranked Syracuse and ninth-ranked Boston College.

“We are so excited that we have the home field advantage this weekend,” sophomore attack Kathleen Sharkey said. “It’s nice to be able to play on our own field that we are used to playing on every day.”

The Tigers are well-rested and in high spirits after defeating Penn, 7-0, last Friday and capping off a perfect season in Ancient Eight competition. In this opening-round matchup, Princeton hopes for a repeat of last season’s success. Last year, Princeton defeated Stanford, 8-2, in the NCAA play-in game to reach the national tournament.

The fact that the Tigers are playing at home cannot be overstated. The Orange and Black is undefeated at Class of 1952 Stadium this season, and the squad will certainly welcome the unusual opportunity of having home-field advantage in the national tournament.

Still, Princeton should be wary of Stanford. The Cardinal defeated Boston University by a 3-2 margin in one of this year’s play-in games. Despite never having won an NCAA tournament game — they are 0-8 all-time — the Cardinal won this year’s Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference championship, defeating California, 3-0. The team also defeated No. 17 Iowa in regular-season play.

Princeton is 15-13 overall in 14 total tournament appearances, and the team has performed well against other squads competing in the tournament this year. The Tigers defeated American, Connecticut, Ohio State, Richmond and Syracuse during their regular season. The team’s only loss against a squad in the tournament was to top-ranked Maryland on Oct. 7, a 3-2 overtime heartbreaker.

After progressing to the quarterfinal round in two of the past three seasons, Princeton will hope for similar success this year. Should they progress to the second round, the Tigers could potentially face rival Syracuse (17-3, 6-0).

Despite defeating the Orange earlier this year, the Tigers will still be looking to avenge last year’s 3-2 loss, which Princeton suffered in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. The quarterfinal matchup will be played Sunday at 2 p.m.

“If we lose [Saturday], our season is over,” Sharkey said. “Whoever we’ve beaten or lost to in the past three months means nothing now. We are taking each opponent and game, one at a time and focusing on that one individually.”

Heading into the matchup against the Cardinal, the Tigers will boast the double threat of a capable offense and a stingy defense. When Princeton is on the attack, it can count on a variety of players to find the back of the net. Four different Tigers possess double-digit regular-season scoring totals. One player that has stepped up as of late is freshman striker Michelle Cesan, the current Ivy League Rookie of the Week who tallied three goals in Princeton’s win over the Quakers.

Other players on offense have racked up accolades as well. The Reinprecht sisters — sophomore midfielder Katie and freshman midfielder Julia — have earned Ivy League Player of the Year and Ivy League Rookie of the Year awards, respectively.

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“During the season we would try to enter each game with the mindset that we were playing in the NCAA championship game,” Sharkey said. “Therefore, we are going to mimic that intensity that we brought to our regular season games and come out strong, focused, and ready to play.”

On the defensive side, the Tigers can depend on junior goaltender Jennifer King to play effectively between the pipes. This season, King has a solid 1.06 goals-against average. Overall, Princeton’s defense has recorded five shutout performances on the year.

Based on the way the two teams have performed thus far this season, Saturday’s game against the Cardinal should be a competitive one.

“We are going to be well rested and very focused for our games,” Sharkey said. “Hopefully a large crowd will come out this weekend and get to see us win two great games on the Princeton campus.”