As usual, it has been a roaring hot start to Ivy League play so far for the Princeton field hockey team.On Friday, the Tigers will have the chance to keep their success going as they host the Columbia Lions on Bedford Field.
The Tigers (5-4 overall, 2-0 Ivy League), wrapping up a three-game homestand, hope to close their time at Bedford with a bang before heading on a grueling road trip. It’s been a turnaround from their inauspicious start to the fall, where they dropped their first two home games to the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia.
No doubt, disappointing the fans at home lit a fire in the Tigers’ bellies, a fire that continues to roar intoFriday’sgame.
“The beginning part of the season … was not how we wished to have started,” senior striker Teresa Benvenuti confirmed. “So we really focused on coming together as a team, and putting that behind us, and working towards the next game, and really showing all of our competitors that we are a team to be reckoned with and not to be taken lightly.”
It’s certain that no squad within the Ivies can underestimate the Tigers and expect to tell the tale. Princeton earned its 10thstraight trip to the NCAA last year and has been the team to be feared in the league during that span. Their work hasn’t gone without recognition — as of Oct. 6, they are 19thin the NCAA Division I field hockey rankings.
However, it is of note that their one loss last season was to Columbia (5-4, 1-1) during a tough road match in which the Tigers’ secondhalf rally came just short as they fell 2-3. The Lions were also last year’s second place finishers in the league, one game behind the Tigers in the final standings.
If victory is to be attained, the Tigers will have to continue the selfless play and off-ball movement that has allowed them to achieve their recent success.
“[Off-ball movement] definitely has been a big focus, just like working off the ball for our teammates, moving defenders to open up shots, [and] giving passing options that won’t really cause turnovers,” Benvenuti elaborated. “Also, staying fast on the ball, keeping a high tempo during the game so we can outrun our competitors and tire them out.”
Off-ball movement, Benvenuti said, “has been priority 1, 2, 3 and 4, probably.”
Certainly, the Tigers’ flowingoffense was on display in their most recent Ivy League contest, a 4-0 drubbing of the Yale Bulldogs. Of course, an integral part of high-octane scoring is effective team chemistry. A question for the Tigers early this season was how having nine freshmen out of a team of just 23 might affect this team’s ability to come together as a cohesive unit.
The Tigers, however, say this aspect of their team has been as strong as ever this season. Along with the off-ball movement, a key tenet for this team has been “working off of each other,” junior midfielder Cat Caro explained. “Really just working on the team’s strengths.”
“Our team chemistry has been amazing,” Benvenuti said.
A strong sense of team unity will be beneficial for the Tigers as they’re tested both this weekend and beyond. One could imagine that it’s daunting for the Tigers that, following Columbia, they must go for a four-game road trip to face some of the best teams in the nation.
Both Benvenuti and Caro, however, insisted the Tigers have their eyes set on little but the game in front of them.
“We don’t talk about who we’re playing next — we see them as faceless opponents,” Benvenuti explained. “We’re doing our own thing and not worry about who we’re playing.”
“We’re just taking it one game at a time, and just focus on the weekend that’s in front of us, and… keep the postseason and NCAA play in the back of our minds,” Caro said, “because that’s what we play towards, except we want to make sure that we get the most out of each weekend.”
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