Beating Harvard teams was a common theme among many Princeton teams this weekend. The Princeton field hockey team managed to get in on the act as well.
Completing the last two games of a four-game stretch away from home, the no. 20-ranked Tigers (8-6 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) continued their dominance in Ivy League play, beating Harvard 2-1 in Cambridge this Saturday. They would, however, also be tested once more against one of the best teams in the NCAA, falling 1-4 to the University of Connecticut Huskies.
In its first match of the weekend, Princeton initially found itself with its hands full against the Crimson team (7-6, 2-3) that had so far been just in the middle of the pack in terms of Ivy League title contention. The Tigers found themselves having to claw out of a hole after a Harvard goal in the 24thminute put the Tigers down 1-0. The deficit would remain the same as the Tigers went into the locker room after the first 35.
It was the second half of the game, however, where the Princeton offense began putting punishing pressure on the Crimson defense. Opportunities were clearly on the rise in this section of the game — the Tigers outshot the Crimson 10-0 overall in the half, compared to 6-4 in the opening half.
A consistent Princeton onslaught ultimately caused the Harvard defense to crack. In the 58thminute, senior striker Maddie Copeland, the team’s leading goal scorer with 13 on the season, had ample opportunity to show off her net-finding talents. Taking the ball at the top of the circle, Copeland sent the ball sailing into the right corner of Harvard’s goal to tie up the match at one apiece.
Freshman midfielder Elise Wong and freshman striker Sophia Tornetta were the ones to earn assists on the play, a typical sight from them as they rank third and second, respectively, in Tiger assists on the season.
Copeland certainly was not finished with her onslaught then. Just into the 67thminute, from nearly the same spot she had scored the equalizer, she sent the ball past Harvard’s Issy online casino Davies for the go-ahead goal, sealing the Princeton victory.
At 5-0, the Tigers are two wins away from achieving a perfect record in Ivy League play, a feat they have not achieved since the 2013 season.
The battle after Harvard, however, was against a team of the highest order. Just a week after the Tigers fell to the top-ranked team in the nation, the Syracuse Orange, they had to come out against the no. 2-ranked Huskies, who sit right behind Syracuse in the NCAA rankings (17-0 overall, 10-0 Big East). The Tigers have had their difficulties in recent times against this squad and have not earned a win against UConn since the 2009 season.
Despite the odds seeming against them, the Tigers would be te ones to take command of the game early on. Copeland would continue scoring as she burst past the defenders for the unassisted goal in the 9thminute of the contest. Moreover, getting a goal scored on them at all was a sight the Huskies had not seen in a while — prior to the game against Princeton, the last time UConn allowed a goal was on Sept. 25, nine games earlier.
UConn, however did not allow itself to fold after the early goal. The timeline of the game was in some ways similar to the Tigers’ previous matchup against Harvard, only with roles reversed. Princeton, upon scoring the early goal, was under constant pressure from the UConn offense. The Huskies got 12 shots off compared to just the Princeton one (Copeland’s goal).
Ultimately, the Huskies would find their opportunities, albeit not until the second half. This team, which leads the NCAA in scoring at six goals per game, scored four unanswered goals. On the game, the Huskies’ propensity for finding shooting opportunities showed in the scoreboard — 21 shots and 12 penalty corners for the girls from UConn, and five and two respectively for the Tigers.
After this weekend, only three games remain for the Tigers before the end of the regular season. The team will play out its last two homes games this week, taking on St. Joseph’s on Wednesdayat6 p.m. and Cornell for a Halloween matchupthis Saturdayat12 p.m. Both games can be viewed on the Ivy League Digital Network.
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