No. 8 field hockey (1–1 Ivy League, 4–3 overall) fell to No. 4 Harvard (2–0 Ivy League, 7–0 overall) at home on Friday 3–1 after an underwhelming performance in a highly anticipated top-ten Ivy League matchup.
Last Thursday, the NCAA ranked the Ivy League as the second most competitive field hockey league in the nation. The last time Princeton played Harvard, the Crimson beat the Tigers in overtime to clinch the Ivy League tournament championship game. This season, the teams are still some of the best in the nation.
In Friday’s contest, the Tigers started the attack, earning a corner not even three minutes into the game. Sophomore forward Lilly Wojcik inserted on this first opportunity, but the ball was fumbled once it made its way outside of the circle.
“We’re just not executing that well in the circle, I think that part is disappointing,” Head Coach Carla Tagliente told The Daily Princetonian postgame. “Our corner execution wasn’t there either. We had seven, and I think we had four missed cues on corners. That’s the game right there. Our games have been ebbing and flowing with that.”
Both teams struggled to connect with the goal during the first quarter.
Princeton opened the next quarter with a play reminiscent of the Caitlin Thompson ’29 in-between-the-legs assist in its game against Penn, which made the SportsCenter Top Ten Plays list last week. This time, however, they could not finish.
With 6:18 left in the half, Harvard got a corner call and did not let the opportunity go to waste. Junior midfielder Ella Cashman went to defend the ball too early off of the insert, leading to a restarted corner without Cashman there to defend. With one fewer Princeton defender to get through, the Crimson got the ball right to the cage. Harvard led 1–0 after the first half of play.
Harvard began the third quarter by building the momentum gained before the half. Just two minutes into the period, the Crimson entered Tiger territory.
Princeton had a couple of breakaways in the third but could not find the goal. Harvard got another corner with 8:32 left in the quarter, and even with the standard number of players defending, sent another bullet straight into the goal. The Crimson led 2–0.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Crimson struck again. Junior goalie Olivia Caponiti swatted a shot away, but a rebound got past her to give Harvard a 3–0 lead.
Princeton received a corner with 7:34 left still looking to get on the board. Wojcik inserted, and senior midfielder Beth Yeager was positioned to do her signature drag flick, but couldn’t connect. Luckily, Cashman came in clutch for Princeton, scoring with a little under seven minutes to compete. Princeton still trailed 3–1.
“She’s probably the toughest player we have,” Tagliente said of Cashman’s efforts. “She’s also opportunistic in the circle. If we could only play her in two lines at a time, we might have more goals.”
To finish the quarter, Princeton was able to draw another corner. Yeager sent the ball to Cashman waiting in the corner, but the play was unsuccessful. Harvard closed the game on top, 3–1.
“We have to lean on each other when there is pressure and trust the process,” Cashman told the ‘Prince.’ “It’s a long season, we have a long way to go and I’m sure that this is by no means the end ... there’s so many games left to prove ourselves, and I really think this could be a turning point in our season.”
Princeton will now go on a road trip to play a slew of top-twenty programs like No. 17 Yale (5–1 Ivy League, 1–1 overall), and No. 1 Northwestern (1–0 Big Ten Conference, 9–0 overall).
Emilia Reay is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince’ and the Spanish Language Pilot Program Director.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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