In 1994, Princeton field hockey began a run of dominance against its Ancient Eight opponents. During these past twenty years, only Dartmouth has topped the Tigers in more than one contest. The record against Harvard? Perfect. Against Yale? Perfect. 2004 marked the last season during which the Orange and Black ceded two conference losses. Since then, head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn’s side has earned an Ivy League title in every successive season.
This 10th anniversary of that runner-up 2004 season looked as if it would bring the same fortunes to bear, as Princeton struggled to fill the voids left by Class of 2014 Olympic talents Michelle Cesan and Julia Reinprecht. Columbia’s Lions emerged as league favorites after topping their New Jersey rivals for the first time in the program’s history.
This past weekend, the Tigers (7-10 overall, 6-1 Ivy League) seized the opportunity before them and earned their 10th consecutive and 23rd all-time Ivy League Championship. A hard-fought, 4-3 win over Penn (8-9, 3-4) coincided with a shocking 4-1 Harvard win over league-leading Columbia. Suddenly, Princeton sat alone at the top of the table with no more regular season hockey left to play.
With the victory, Princeton’s record against Penn improved to 25-15-3 overall, including 10 straight wins. What’s more, this 10-season run of consecutive conference title stands alone as the longest active championship streak in the Ivy League.
Princeton heralded the contest by honoring their seniors prior to what could well have been their final game in orange and black uniforms. Accordingly, senior captain Julia Boyle, who had started in one contest during the course of the season, stood in the cage for the Tigers. She allowed three goals while making a trio of stops, including one lead-preserving save with just over five minutes to play in regulation.
The first score came for Princeton just inside the 10-minute mark. Sophomore back Hailey Reeves, having inserted the ball to the top of the offensive zone on a penalty corner, found prime open space just feet from the cage. Senior midfielder and captain Sydney Kirby, who has been the core of this Princeton side, located her second-year teammate with a precise pass. Penn’s Allison Weisenfels was helpless to stop the point-blank attempt.
Little time separated that score from the Quakers’ first, as senior captain Alex Iqbal converted a penalty corner from some distance at the 11:31 mark. Penn’s Emily Corcoran, her side’s second leading scorer, took possession in Princeton territory and found teammate Elizabeth Hitti, whose strike snuck past Boyle to earn the visitors a 2-1 lead.
Junior midfielder Teresa Benvenuti gave the Tigers team a much needed boost heading to the halftime break. With just seven seconds remaining in the period, the second-year starter took a pass from her captain Kirby and fired a shot along the turf to the far side of the cage and past the opposing keeper.
This momentum carried over into the second period. Within three minutes, the Tigers had taken the lead off a shot deflection by senior striker Allison Evans — Benvenuti had fired off the initial attempt.
Following Penn’s equalizing penalty stroke, junior striker Maddie Copeland had the contest’s last word, scoring the game winner at the 61:04 mark. A Quaker penalty corner broke down and set up a potent Princeton counterattack. Copeland, facing only the opposing keeper, stood available for senior striker Stephanie Goldberg far down the field. The ball skidded across midfield and onto the stick of the junior striker, whose backhanded strike rocketed past Weisenfels and into the netting.
The team’s official Twitter feed described the finish as “Probably the greatest goal of Copeland’s career.” This is no small statement considering the consistent quality of her attempts.
An ecstatic Princeton side relished the satisfying conclusion to what had been a trying regular season. It was announced Sunday night that Princeton will face MAAC champion Monmouth in nearby West Long Branch, N.J. The last matchup between these two sides was in 2006. The Tigers dominated the Hawks 8-1.
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