Field Hockey: Tigers upended in bid for Final Four

The Tigers’ trip to the quarterfinals was their third consecutive appearance in the round of eight, but they failed to repeat last year’s attendance at the semifinals.

“Obviously, we want to play for as long as possible, but it just wasn’t in the cards for us this year,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said. “I’m really proud of the team for how they stuck together and faced adversity. The girls just kept trying to do their best, and overall they had an outstanding season.”

Princeton’s injury woes, which plagued the team throughout the end of its regular season, improved marginally for the tournament yet still prevented the squad from playing at full strength. All-Ivy League junior midfielder Katie Reinprecht, second team All-Ivy freshman back Amanda Bird and honorable mention All-Ivy junior midfielder Alyssa Pyros all saw reduced playing time due to various ailments.

“When that happens, you just lose a step,” Holmes-Winn said of the injuries. “We were trying to hang in there as best we could, but in the end, UVA is a dynamic team, and we couldn’t keep up with them for 70 minutes.”

After beginning the game under an attack during which the Tigers withstood three Cavalier penalty corners and two shots, Princeton rallied to score the first goal of the game on a goal by junior All-Ivy striker Kathleen Sharkey. Sophomore midfielder Julia Reinprecht and senior back Alexandra Douwes assisted on the goal, Sharkey’s 33rd and final score of a season in which she broke program records for both goals and points in a season.

The former record holder in both statistics, Ilvy Friebe ’03, was in attendance to see the dominant Sharkey surpass her marks.

Virginia controlled the pace of play for much of the rest of the half, earning seven penalty corners to Princeton’s four and outshooting the Tigers 6-2. The Cavaliers finally broke through when forward Elly Buckley scored in the 30th minute to even the game at 1-1.

The Tigers began the second half once again challenged on defense, but this time Virginia’s aggressive play wore the squad down. Buckley scored her second goal of the game seven minutes into the half and was followed by two more unanswered Cavalier goals that stretched Virginia’s lead to 4-1 with 10 minutes remaining.

Katie Reinprecht assisted her sister Julia Reinprecht on a goal with seven minutes remaining to bring the Tigers within two, but the team was unable to close the gap any further.

The numbers tell a fairly clear story about the game’s flow, as Virginia outshot Princeton 16-5 and added on four more penalty corners in the second half to the Tigers’ zero.

The Cavaliers now advance to the semifinals for the second consecutive year and will face North Carolina in College Park, Md.

Saturday afternoon’s match against Wake Forest told a more familiar tale of smooth Princeton field hockey.

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The Demon Deacons struck first with a goal off of a penalty corner toward the end of the first half, but the Tigers replied with a penalty execution of their own just minutes later in the form of a goal by Julia Reinprecht.

Princeton’s two All-Americans provided the firepower for the rest of the game, as Sharkey scored on a corner just three minutes out of halftime and Katie Reinprecht put the game out of reach with an unassisted score that proved too much for Wake Forest to recover from.

Princeton was ultimately unable to build on its success in reaching the semifinals last year, but more than any outcome, Holmes-Winn measured the success of her team on its effort.

“We gave everything we had and we did our very best, and I do think the best team won today,” she said of the Virginia game. “They just kept persevering and I’m really proud of them.”

Although several players are looking into taking a year off to play in the Olympics, the Tigers lose just one starter to graduation and should find themselves fighting harder than ever for their first national championship next season.