No. 4 Tigers fall to No. 14 American at home

Coming off a marquee win last Tuesday against No. 1 Maryland, the No. 4 field hockey team was riding high into this weekend, expecting victories at Columbia on Friday and against No. 14 American at home on Sunday. While the Tigers (8-1 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) easily topped the Lions, 6-1, they fell to the underdog Eagles (9-2) on Sunday in a hard-fought 3-2 loss.

On Sunday, American broke through early, converting in the ninth minute. American midfielder Kirstin Gebhart assisted defensive midfielder Anne Van Erp off Natalie Ellenberger’s corner to go up 1-0.

Just one minute later, striker Christine Fingerhuth lofted a high backhander into goal for American, putting it up by two.

The Tigers soon attempted to fight back. In the 13th minute, junior striker Kathleen Sharkey — the nation's leading scorer — received sophomore midfielder Julia Reinprecht’s penalty corner, but Gebhart blocked Sharkey’s shot. Sophomore striker Michelle Cesan’s shot in the 22nd minute was similarly blocked. In the 27th minute, Julia Reinprecht again fed a penalty corner to Sharkey, who shot wide.

In the 31st minute, the Eagles struck another blow, as Fingerhuth spun around in the scoring circle with the ball and found the back of the net.

“[The Eagles] played a great first half, and they capitalized on their opportunities,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. “We had some chances early on, and you just have to get return when you have opportunities.”

As the Tigers entered the second period, they took shot after shot, finally breaking through in the 48th minute. Senior defender Alexandra Douwes assisted Sharkey off Julia Reinprecht’s corner, as Sharkey scored her 19th goal of the season.

The game soon started to open up for the Tigers, as Julia Reinprecht, junior midfielder and co-captain Katie Reinprecht, Sharkey and junior midfielders Alyssa Pyros and Allison Behringer all had scoring opportunities. But goalkeeper Hannah Weitzmann and the American defense shut down each Princeton opportunity.

The Tigers found the net in the 60th minute, with the Eagles down one player after a yellow card. Katie Reinprecht scored her eighth goal of the season, as Sharkey assisted her on a penalty corner by Julia Reinprecht to make the score 3-2.

A few minutes later, Katie Reinprecht found Cesan behind the American defense, but Weitzman knocked the ball away. The Tigers had 16 shots in the second half, while the Eagles had none, and nine corners to American's one, but they were unable to pull out the victory.

“We’re fortunate this happened now and not later in the season,” Holmes-Winn said. “I think this is a humbling game, and that’s a good thing. This will allow us to go through and get stronger. We can’t just step on the field and expect it to happen.”

On Friday, after an initial shot on goal by Columbia, the Tigers pounced in the second minute, as Cesan found her way past Columbia goalkeeper Christie O’Hara on a redirected pass from Pyros.

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“We started off the game not really fast, so once that ball went into the net, the team finally realized we got to step it up,” Cesan said.

In the 12th minute, Cesan found the net again, this time on a rebound off a save by O’Hara. The Lions did not have another scoring chance in the first period.

Approaching the half, Katie Reinprecht pushed the Tigers’ lead up to 3, scoring off another rebound by O’Hara.

Princeton rolled into the second period firing. One minute in, sophomore midfielder Molly Goodman beat the keeper after receiving the ball off Julia Reinprecht’s penalty corner from the far right post.

This time, though, Columbia responded. Forward Gabby Kozlowski scored two minutes later, in the 38th minute, deflecting a pass from forward Carson Christus. The Lions continued their brief success with a string of penalty corners, but Sharkey received a pass from Pyros in the 42nd minute and converted it for the Tigers’ fifth goal.

“We focus on the little things — our hard passing, we make sure that every ball gets to every stick,” Cesan said.

In the 56th minute, Cesan completed her hat trick when she scored off a rebounded save by O’Hara. It was her seventh of the season. Columbia did not have another attempt in the final 14 minutes, as Princeton improved to 3-0 in Ancient Eight play.