This weekend will mark the end of field hockey’s regular season, the first campaign since 2004 during which the Orange and Black has amassed a losing record. Princeton (6-10 overall, 5-1 Ivy League) will take on its ultimate Ivy League opponent in Penn (8-8, 3-3).
These two teams have met a total of 42 times, with the Princeton, having won the past nine matchups, holding an overall series lead 24-15-3. Last season’s contest saw the Tigers trounce the Quakers in Philadelphia. All-Ivy forward Michelle Cesan ’14 scored a brace en route to a 5-1 decision which yielded an Ivy League championship for Princeton.
A postseason berth still remains within the realm of possibility for Princeton. Should the Tigers top their local rivals, and should Harvard upend Columbia in Cambridge, Mass., head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn’s side would stand alone at the top of the table and secure its 11thconsecutive Ivy League championship.
Senior Captain and midfielder Sydney Kirby, recently selected to play in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I Senior game, has been consistently impressive for the Tigers. Starting in all 16 of her team’s games, she has tallied a team high 16 points on six goals and four assists.
Only junior forward Maddie Copeland has beat opposing keepers more often than Kirby. Her seven goals on an efficient 22 shots lead all Princeton players.
Statistically, both of this contest’s goalkeepers rank just inside the league’s bottom half. Princeton junior Anya Gersoff, who has started in 15 of her side’s 16 contests, has allowed 2.62 goals per game with a save percentage of 69. Senior Allison Weisenfels has likewise started in 15 games, compiling a 8-7 record with a goal against average of 2.26. She has managed 86 stops with a save percentage of 71.1.
The Quakers’ forward Alexa Hoover, recipient of four Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards, including this past week’s honor, has been sensational in her first year. Her 13 goals tie her for the league lead, while her 29 total points stand as the conference’s third-best mark. Limiting Hoover’s shooting, which finds the cage an impressive 73 percent of the time, will be a priority for the Tigers.
No player has won four Rookie of the Week awards in one season since 2003, when Princeton’s Allison Nemeth ’07 accomplished this feat. Nemeth, a former assistant coach for both the Tigers and the Quakers, went on to be named that season’s Rookie of the Year.
In her final year, captain Alex Iqbal has emerged as one of the Quakers’ standouts. Her 51 attempts, only six of which have found the back of the cage, lead the team. Worthy of note, Iqbal scored one of the season’s only hat tricks in a 4-1 win over Harvard.
The Tigers are not, as the cliché goes, in control of their own destiny. An NCAA tournament trip has become commonplace for this outstanding program. And yet, as college sports will make evident time and time again, nothing can be taken for granted.
What has been a wild Ivy League season will conclude this weekend. You can catch the Tigers on Bedford Field at 12 p.m. or on the Ivy League Digital Network.
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