Tigers to face second test against a top-15 squad at home this weekend

Coaches and players of defending champions often feel as if there is a target on their back, with competitors eager for a chance to knock off the titleholders. When asked whether or not this was the case for her team, field hockey head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn – entering her 11thyear at the helm with nine Ivy League championships and the program’s only national title during her tenure – expressed gratitude for the opportunity to defend a title.

“I see that as a gift, honestly,” Holmes-Winn said. “If we know that every single team is going to take us seriously and put their best effort forth, that will only make us better. And that’s certainly been the case, winning 18 of the last 19 Ivy League championships, we’re pretty used to the target thing. It’s made us have to be exceedingly detailed about what we’re doing.”

Holmes-Winn added National Field Hockey Coaches of America and Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year awards to her impressive resume last year. The 2012 campaign saw her team outscore league opponents an absurd 45-1.

Though No. 3 Princeton opened the season with a pair of wins at home, junior attack Sydney Kirby noted that Princeton can learn a good deal from a frustrating battle with Fairfield.

“I don’t think we were expecting our toughest match, but coaches say we have to play all opponents the same and just play our game,” Kirby explained. “We definitely learned a lot from that. They actually scored the first goal so we had to come back from that, which I think is a good lesson for us: not to underestimate our opponent. Our coaches pinpointed some key parts of our game that we need to work on that were quite exposed. Hopefully it should look significantly better this weekend.”

The season promises to provide competition worthy of a defending titleholder. Princeton will face a slate of opponents that includes four current NCAA top 15 teams over the next eight games: No. 13 Penn State this Sunday, followed in coming weeks by No. 6 Syracuse, No. 4 UConn and No. 2 Maryland.

The Tigers have plenty of talent returning. Senior midfielder Julia Reinprecht – sister of The Daily Princetonian’s 2013 Female Athlete of the Year, Katie Reinprecht ’13 – earned a first-team All-America selection. Senior midfielder/attack Michelle Cesan, second-team All-America last year and sophomore midfielder Teresa Benvenuti, last season’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, add to an intimidating Tiger force.

Coach Holmes-Winn highlighted leadership and maturity as some of the team’s greatest assets.

“I think that they’re a mature team,” Holmes-Winn began. “And whenever you’re trying to achieve something special together as a group you need to have a common focus and a common purpose. I really feel like this team is focused on what they’re trying to achieve as a group.”

Kirby seconded her coach’s observations on the team's mentality.

“Grit is the key word,” she said. “We play hard all the time and we never want to be outworked.”

Holmes-Winn also expressed excitement about the class of 2017, describing a talented bunch who demonstrate a high level of maturity for freshmen. Freshman Hailey Reeves earned her first goal of her career in team’s first game against Duke on a cross from junior striker Allison Evans. Freshmen Cat Caro in the midfield and Annabeth Donovan at back also saw action off the bench in their first two contests.

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“The younger athletes on this team, they’re also a very mature group,” Holmes-Winn observed. “They came in very fit. So there’s a level of professionalism that we don’t have to teach.”

The team’s next game will be at Bedford Field against Michigan State, this Friday at 6:00 p.m. The Spartans (2-3) defeated Princeton the only time the teams met, in 2002 but enter the game unranked.

On Sunday, however, the Tigers will host No. 13 Penn State. Though the Nittany Lions (1-3) have had a disappointing start to a season which they began ranked No. 6 in the country. Still, their offense –led by Taylor Herold, who has scored four goals already –should provide a formidable challenge for the Tigers. Last time out, the teams proved to be very evenly matched, as the game went to overtime and Princeton eked out a victory on a goal in the 73rd minute from now-senior middlefielder/attack Michelle Cesan. The rematch will begin at noon on Sunday.