Princeton advances to face Maryland in NCAA brackett; plus, postseason awards

Ivy League champions, Women’s field hockey,(8-10 overall, 6-1 Ivy) earned their 10th straight invitation to the NCAA tournament with a win over Penn. Princeton’s turnaround was prompt, as it traveled on Wednesday to West Long Branch, N.J. for its play-in matchup with Monmouth University (13-8, 4-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).

A 4-3 victory for the Orange and Black meant its next postseason stop would be College Park, Md. The No. 2 Terrapins (18-3, 7-1 Big Ten) will host a rematch of the Oct. 15regular season contest which saw Maryland dominate the Tigers on Bedford Field by a score of 8-1.

The October’s showdown marked just the third time the two teams had met. Princeton emerged victorious in 2006 and again in 2007 with dominating scores of 8-1 and 9-1, respectively. Saturday’s contest proved far more competitive, with the game-winning goal coming 40 minutes into the contest.

The Tigers dominated early in the game, earning three of their five attacking penalty corners within the first 10 minutes of play. The third of those opportunities led to the game’s first goal. Sophomore back Hailey Reeves inserted the ball, which was first struck by midfielder Sydney Kirby and subsequently blocked by the Hawks keeper Christen Piersanti. Senior forward Allison Evans’ rebound effort found the back of the opposing cage at the 9:54 mark.

Princeton would relinquish its early lead, conceding an equalizer at the 20:51 mark, when Hawks senior forward Meg Donahue picked up a cross from her linemate Trish O’Dwyer and directed it to the back of net. Just over seven minutes later, O’Dwyer picked up her second assist of the day as her penalty corner insertion found the waiting stick of back Julie Laszlo.

Three Tiger goals followed their opponents’ unanswered pair. Just 93 seconds before the halfway mark, sophomore forward Teresa Benvenuti’s strike off a penalty corner beat Piersanti to equalize.

A fast-break five minutes into the second period yielded Benvenuti’s second score of the afternoon, as her backhand shot from distance found its mark. Princeton and then Monmouth would score once again following this game winner –the Hawks’ third tally came off a penalty stroke with 13 seconds remaining in regulation.

This New Jersey showdown, though tightly contested, will likely prove a meager test of Princeton’s abilities. Maryland, Big Ten champions, remains one of the country’s most imposing sides. After being bounced by the Tigers in the 2012 NCAA tournament semifinals, the Terrapins have won three straight games in the series and hold a 6-19 overall advantage.

During the course of Princeton’s October loss to the Terrapins, just three Princeton players managed a shot on goal, with only sophomore midfielder Cat Caro testing the opposing keeper more than once. Her second attempt, coming with 21:59 remaining in the second period, resulted in her side’s lone successful effort.

At that point, however, Maryland’s lead had become insurmountable. The scoreboard read 4-1 in favor of the visitors. Less than five minutes later, the Terrapins’ forward Katie Gerzabek converted her first shot of the game for her team’s fifth score. The No. 2 side proceeded to add four more goals before the fulltime buzzer sounded. Midfielder/forward Maxine Fluharty, a first-team all-ACC selection last year, led all players in shooting and scoring with nine attempts and three goals.

Junior goalkeeper Anya Gersoff faced a barrage of shots throughout the contest. During the 70 minutes of play, she was called upon 19 times. She saved 11 of her opponents’ shots on goal, which falls one short of her career high of 12. Maryland totaled 28 shots, nearly twice the season average allowed by Princeton.

The loss to the Terrapins also tied Princeton’s largest historical margin of defeat. One of the other seven-point differentials came during a five-game 1984 losing streak in the form of an 8-1 Temple University win over the Tigers.

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Saturday’s tilt against Maryland, scheduled for 11:30 a.m., will demand the entirety of the Tigers’ effort and poise. Though improbable in the light of the aforementioned defeat, victory remains far from impossible.

Postseason awards:

Kirby, the team leader in points scored, was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week. This marks the third consecutive year in which a Tiger has earned that honor, with Katie Reinprecht ’12 and sister Julia Reinprecht ’13 taking home the award the past two seasons.

Kirby’s classmate, forward Allison Evan,s likewise found a spot on the all-Ivy first team. During Wednesday’s contest, Evans’ goal put her career point total at 101, making ninth Tiger to surpass the 100-point mark.

Three more Tigers saw their names on the second team: sophomore midfielder Cat Caro, junior forward Kate Ferrara and sophomore back Annabeth Donovan. In her first year, forward Ryan McCarthy, also earned an honorable mention nod from the conference award committee.