On Sunday in front of an excited home crowd, No. 5 Princeton (12–3 overall, 5–1 Ivy League) put on a show against the Penn State Nittany Lions (7–9 overall, 2–5 Big Ten Conference). Princeton came up with the win in a 6–1 blowout, continuing their eight game winning streak.
“It was awesome to see the stands packed,” sophomore defender Izzy Morgan, the Ivy League offensive Player of the Week, told The Daily Princetonian. “It was our Let Her Play game today, which promotes youth sports and women’s sports, so it was nice to see a lot of younger field hockey players and the energy and community around us. That really contributed to our team effort today.”
The game started with high intensity, forcing each team to run the field. The first quarter was the only goalless quarter of the game. Despite the 0–0 on the scoreboard for the first 15 minutes of play, it was obvious that Princeton was positioning themselves to score. Despite this, none of the Tigers passes in the circle led to a goal.
The second quarter was when the party started for Princeton. With eight minutes and change left to play in the half, first-year midfielder Caitlin Thompson was able to convert a long run from sophomore forward Anna Faulstitch into points with a clean drive into Penn State’s goal. The Tigers went into halftime up by just one.
“The message was to mix up the entries and just be patient,” Head Coach Carla Tagleinte said about her team’s strategy at halftime. We were in the right positions, [and] we were passing around Penn State players like they were cones. Things will break eventually, and they did.” The second half yielded five goals for the Tigers, with four of those five coming in just eight minutes and fourteen seconds.
Senior midfielder Beth Yeager continued towards a Tiger triumph with her go-to drag flick during an attack penalty corner less than five minutes into the third. After that, Yeager assisted first-year midfielder Tabby Vaughan, who scored the first goal of her collegiate career.
“The third quarter was really strong, so we could all feel another goal coming,” Vaughan told the ‘Prince.’ “I was really happy it was me, but it could have been anyone.”
Sophomore midfielder Clem Houlden got in on the action in the third quarter, too, hitting a bullet right into the corner of the cage to put the Tigers on top 4–0.
Junior defender Ottilie Sykes, the Co-Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week, finished this run, with another dagger drive into Penn State’s goal with under three minutes left in the quarter. The Tigers had five on the Nittany Lions going into the fourth quarter.
At this point in the game, Princeton had a comfortable lead and just needed to play solid hockey for the next fifteen minutes. This didn’t mean they had to stop scoring, though.
In the fourth quarter, Morgan closed out the Tiger tally with a goal of her own, assisted by first-year forward Saylor Milone. The goal put the Tigers up 6–0, an abnormally high score for a field hockey statline.
“The team as a whole has come so far since the beginning of the season,” Vaughan commented about the trajectory of the team. “We are so close as a team and I think it is so nice to see that translate on the pitch more.”
Penn State managed one goal late in the fourth in transition, but it wasn’t enough to compete with Princeton's performance. When the final whistle blew, the Tigers had triumphed in a massive 6–1 victory.
For the Tigers, this matchup was a true demonstration of playing as a unit — all six of their goals were scored by a different player. Nine of Princeton’s 15 games have been decided by one goal, but that was not the case on Sunday.
The Tigers have one more regular season game left on the schedule against Columbia before they enter post-season play. They have clinched the #2 seed in the Ivy League tournament, which will be hosted by No. 3 Harvard.
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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