Knowing the importance of this game’s outcome, both teams came out of the gate last night strong and looking for victory. Princeton grabbed the first draw control and carried it downfield, setting up a patient and settled attack. Unassisted, senior midfielder Cassie Pyle drove hard down the middle and sent the ball high into the back of the net in the second minute of the game to grab the first goal of the game and put the Tigers ahead by one. Two turnovers by Princeton on subsequent offensive sets gave the Quakers a chance to equalize at 25:35 with a low shot that went past the Tigers' keeper, freshman Annie Woehling.
Princeton regained possession and took back the lead as junior attacker Jaci Gassaway sent a feed from behind the net to freshman attacker Erin McMunn waiting on the crease for a quick-stick finish. A free position in the next minute of play allowed Penn to tie the game at 2-2. Winning the draw control, the Quakers sent a shot at Woehling, who saved it, but the ball deflected out, and the visitors were able to grab it and send it in quickly to go ahead for the first time. The back-and-forth scoring continued when junior midfielder Charlotte Davis converted a free position for the Tigers with a high shot 10 minutes into the half tying the game 3-3. Princeton would see its final lead of the night when the cage feed by senior attacker Barb Previ found Gassaway for a quick finish.
The score for the rest of the first half remained close, but Penn began to show its dominance. Three unanswered goals by the Quakers, two during the run of play and one during a free position, put the Tigers behind by two. After not scoring for 15 minutes, Princeton was able to close the score gap back to a one-goal difference with under five minutes to play. Pyle struck for her second of the night with a high shot from the middle. On the next draw, the Quakers grabbed possession and responded with a goal just 11 seconds after the Tigers had tallied. Right before halftime, Penn was able to sneak in one more goal, opening up a three-goal lead and sending the teams off the field with the score at 5-8.
Despite a back-and-forth start to the second half, reflective of the beginning of the game, eventually the momentum shifted to favor the Quakers, who added five goals to the Tigers’ three. Pyle was waiting on the top of the arc and connected with Gassaway, who cut hard from behind the net to earn her second goal of the game. Penn added a quick-stick goal on its next offensive possession. A yellow card for the Quakers gave Princeton a man-up opportunity, and McMunn was able to convert a free-position to close the gap back to two. Like the middle of the first half, the back-and-forth scoring came to a halt when Penn added three unanswered goals in 10 minutes. The five-goal differential was the largest of the game, and there was not enough time left for the Princeton to crawl out of the hole. Gassaway finished with a hat trick, finishing a free position on a low bounce shot with just under 10 minutes remaining. The last goal of the game came at 3:43, putting the visitors ahead 8-13, which would be the final score.
Statistically, the Quakers dominated in all aspects of the game, out-shooting the Tigers 24-17, grabbing three more ground balls, tallying four fewer turnovers and grabbing 56.5 percent of draw controls. Defensively, Princeton had 25 fouls, while Penn had only 14, and the Tigers did not capitalize on three free position opportunities. Woehling made six saves for Princeton, but the team struggled to clear the ball, seeing success only seven of 11 times.
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