Tigers split weekend series on the road

While field hockey (3-5 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) maintained its perfect conference record with a convincing 4-1 win over Yale (1-7, 0-2), Princeton failed to top a strong No. 12 Albany (7-2, 0-0 America East) squad in its second tilt of the weekend. Sunday’s away matchup with the Great Danes – the Tigers were held scoreless — saw offense ineffective until the 65th minute, at which point the home side picked up two penalty corner goals within four minutes. Additionally, the loss breaks Princeton’s three-game unbeaten streak against Albany.

Senior midfielder Sydney Kirby, who tallied two goals over the course of 19 games last season, managed a brace against the Bulldogs. She currently leads the Tigers in points with four goals and an assist.

In New Haven, an attack penalty corner at the 16:58 mark gave Princeton its first advantage of the day. The Classes of 2015, 2016 and 2017 got involved on the play, as sophomore back Hailey Reeves inserted the ball toward the stick of her junior linemate Kate Ferrara. Kirby took the assist from Ferrara and fired it past Yale’s defenders and keeper.

“Our offense really got going,” said Kirby in a post-game interview with GoPrincetonTigers.com. “We’ve been working on flow patterns and ball movement. We really connected on plays we’ve been working on throughout the year.”

A powerful effort from Yale’s freshman midfielder Carol Middough got past the Tigers’ junior goalkeeper Anya Gersoff for the equalizing goal.

Senior back Cassidy Arner picked up her first goal of the year on by virtue of a nifty two-man fast break play. Her classmate, striker Allison Evans flicked the ball across the goalie’s face to an open Arner who quickly chipped over Yale’s Heather Schleiser.

Schleiser, the Ivy League goalie with the highest save percentage last season, tallied a solid seven saves against 11 shots on goal during the course of play. After 47 minutes of play, Gersoff yielded her position in net to senior Julia Boyle. Facing four shots on target, Boyle managed four stops to earn a perfect save percentage in her first action of the season.

The final goal of the day came off the stick of freshman striker Ryan McCarthy. A cross delivered by senior striker Stephanie Goldberg found the stick of junior forward Maddie Copeland. Diving for possession, Copeland knocked the ball toward of McCarthy who capitalized on the goal line to make the already comfortable lead unassailable.

Offensive production was a rare commodity in Sunday’s contest. At the half, Princeton and Albany remained drawn at 0-0. Both teams had attempted four shots, while the visiting Tigers had won four penalty corners to their opponents’ zero.

Both teams’ struggles continued into the second half, as neither side managed a shot until the 49:05 mark in the final period. With six minutes left to play, Albany’s Fiori Van Rijswijk earned a penalty corner, which she converted off assists from Paula Heuser and Laura Page. Three minutes and 44 seconds later, Heuser converted a penalty stroke for her team’s second and final tally.

With just over a minute to play, Gersoff made one last save for Princeton, her fifth of the afternoon.

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Princeton took only one shot – Evans had an attempt blocked at the 58:14 mark – during the second period. This effort is quite uncharacteristic of what has thus far been an aggressive Orange and Black unit.

The Tigers will hope to correct their form this upcoming weekend when they face a pair of New York opponents. They will visit Columbia on Friday and host No. 10 Syracuse at Bedford Field on Sunday.