Princetonians Katie Reinprecht ’13, Kathleen Sharkey ’13, and Julia Reinprecht ’14 will not be playing for a medal in Rio.
The U.S. women's field hockey team, ranked fifth in the world, lost to No. 9 Germany in a 2-1 quarterfinal match on Monday afternoon. The Germans took an early lead by scoring both their goals in the first quarter.
Early in the second quarter, onlookers thought that Team USA had scored a goal after Katie Reinprecht tapped in the ball at the top of the circle. However, a video referral showed that Reinprecht had made the last touch with her left knee while sliding forward into the goal. The U.S. was to remain scoreless in the first half.
Katie Reinprecht and Kathleen Sharkey found themselves in another goal-scoring opportunity five minutes into the third quarter. Katie Bam intercepted a German pass at midfield, handing the ball off to Sharkey to deliver to Reinprecht. However, the German defense tipped Reinprecht’s shot on goal, stifling the typically offensively unstoppable Tiger.
In the fourth quarter, the Americans thought they would receive a penalty corner, only to have it revoked due to a foot foul after Germany requested a video referral more than twenty seconds after the foul had occurred.
Despite losing this valuable opportunity, Team USA continued to battle in the Rio heat. With three minutes left in the match, Katie Reinprecht slipped the ball to Katelyn Falgowski, who struck the ball right into a German stick that deflected it into the goal, putting the Americans on the board at last.
With renewed hope, the Americans upped their aggression. Bam broke free from the German defense and seemed to have the perfect shot lined up when a German player slid in front of her and sent her falling onto the turf in pain. While the tackle could have warranted a penalty stroke for the U.S., Germany regained possession. From then on, the Germans held off the U.S. to keep the score 2-1.
No doubt it was disappointing for Team USA to lose to Germany after pulling off inspiring upsets against No. 2 Argentina and No. 3 Australia in pool play, but the U.S. fell to an impressive opponent, Germany, the 2013 European champion and consistent Olympic medal contender. The Top 8 finish is a remarkable improvement from Team USA’s last-place finish in London and demonstrates the squad’s marked turnaround in athleticism and teamwork.
Team USA’s upward trajectory can be attributed to its new coach, Craig Parnham, who began working with the national team in 2013. Under his direction, the program hired a sports psychologist and moved its training base from California to Pennsylvania, since most of its players are from Pennsylvania or New Jersey. Princeton alum Nate Franks ’07 also serves on the coaching staff for the national team.
The Reinprecht sisters, Sharkey, and Franks, along with their teammates on Team USA, will continue to build the U.S. field hockey team into a world-class program. Get ready, Tokyo.
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