The field hockey team already has three wins under its belt, but for a team with its sights set on a national championship, this weekend might as well be viewed as its second season opener. The No. 4 Tigers (3-0) face off against Dartmouth (4-0), their first Ivy League opponent, on Friday night. Then, on Sunday afternoon, Princeton will take on its first ranked rival, No. 8 Syracuse (4-2).
Last season, the Tigers had strong performances against both opponents. In its second game of 2009, Princeton traveled to Syracuse and came home with a 3-2 victory in overtime. After a near-perfect season, which included a 6-1 win at Dartmouth, the Tigers met Syracuse again in the quarterfinals of the NCAA national tournament and walked away with a convincing 7-3 victory before falling to eventual champion Maryland in the semifinals.
This year, Princeton hopes that combining the team’s experience with a new mindset will make the team even more formidable.
“This year we’ve taken on a new approach: We’re looking at every opponent as an opponent — like Opponent one, two, three, four — rather than as Syracuse [or] Dartmouth,” senior back and tri-captain Alexandra Douwes said. “Overall we just want to get really good at our game and just keep playing it and not try to adapt to other opponents too much ... other than looking at certain individuals who may have certain tendencies we want to know about before going into the game.”
“The inspiration behind this mentality is consistency,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn added. “Regardless of who the opponent is, we want to play our absolute best … It’s not just for the perceived big games. Every game to us is a big game and every game is worthy of our utmost preparation during the week and our utmost focus. If we can have that mentality, that is going to help us achieve our potential as a team. That is really what this year is about for us. We want to be the team to beat, really, in the end. And if we approach each day with that mentality, we’ll get the outcomes that we want regardless of the opposition.”
Dartmouth, or Opponent No. 4, has grabbed attention early this season with a strong offensive unit that has averaged 5.5 goals per game against Fairfield, Missouri State, Pacific and Bryant. The Big Green’s scoring offense ranks second in the nation, bested only by Princeton’s 5.67 scoring average. One component of Dartmouth’s offensive strength has been its penalty corner prowess.
“They have a really sharp penalty corner unit and one of the better drag flickers in the country,” Holmes-Winn said. “They look like they’ve got a very potent offense. We’re going to try and take away options and make them feel the heat defensively,” Coach Holmes-Winn said.
Syracuse, Opponent No. 5, is known for its fitness and physical style of play. Half of the Orange’s games this season have gone into overtime, including its 2-1 loss to No. 3 Virginia and its 2-1 win over No. 10 Ohio State. While Princeton had the upper hand against the Orange last season, pulling out a 3-2 overtime win in the regular season before storming to a 7-3 victory in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, the rivalry remains strong.
“In the last two years I feel like Syracuse has developed into one of our biggest rivals because we’ve played them in the quarterfinals ... They beat us once [in 2008] and we beat them once [in 2009],” junior striker Kathleen Sharkey said. “They are going to want to get the win, so we have to match their intensity and really bring our game.”
Sharkey, who earned Ivy League Player of the Week for her seven-goal performance last weekend, leads the nation in goals per game. She has scored 10 goals so far this season and has netted at least one tally per outing. A strong offensive performance from the Tigers will be one way to set Syracuse on its heels.
“They’re a team in my estimation that always takes care of the controllables, and teams like that are scary,” Holmes-Winn said. “They’re mentally really strong and they’ve got great coaching. They’re always well prepared, so we’ll have to bring our best.”
Holmes-Winn should know how the Tigers look at their best, as the team strives each day toward reaching its fullest potential.
“My vision for the team — and we’re not there yet — is a really free-flowing offense where we can have a lot of variety in how we attack and a ruthless approach to how we defend, really closing spaces quickly and forcing teams to play through our pressure,” she said. “And then when we win the ball, [having] that instantaneous transition to the attack where we can expand the field and stretch their lines and get underneath and attack with numbers. And solid goalkeeping, because you can’t win championships without that.”
With its first Ivy League foe and a top-10 team on tap this weekend, Princeton has a chance to move closer to Holmes-Winn’s vision.
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