On Oct. 11, No. 6 Princeton (7–3 overall, 3–1 Ivy League) beat unranked Dartmouth (1–8, 0–4) in a resounding 4–0 game.
The game was all Tigers from the get-go. After defeating Yale last Friday, the Tigers wanted to set the tone early in this next Ivy League game. They executed that plan to a tee on Saturday: Princeton was quick to score and that momentum fueled the team.
First-year midfielder Caitlin Thompson scored her first-ever career goal just 58 seconds into the matchup. Thompson’s goal capitalized on the first corner of the day, rerouting senior midfielder Beth Yeager’s ball past the Dartmouth goal keeper.
“The short corner call was for me to score,” Thompson told The Daily Princetonian. “I expected to get the ball, and I was able to do the right thing and score. I was relieved for myself and happy for the team. We wanted to go out and score early, and we did.”
Thompson wasn’t done there, though. The Tigers opened the second quarter as quickly as they opened the first, with Thompson’s second career goal coming off a put-back from a previous Tiger shot attempt just over 30 seconds in.
Head Coach Carla Tagliente praised her first-year heroes: “They have done a great job of taking on big roles. I think the key for first-year players is just being open to feedback so that you can continue to develop through the season. If you get hung up on every little thing you think you are doing wrong or have a distracted mindset, you are going to miss the moment.”
In the second quarter, sophomore forward Pru Lindsey kept the momentum: With almost 19 minutes of gameplay down, Lindsey tipped the ball in off of a pass just outside the circle’s perimeter. The previous week, Lindsey was voted Co-Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for her performance in the win against Yale, in which she batted the ball down into the Bulldog’s goal.
By halftime against Dartmouth, the Tigers were commanding the game, leading the Big Green 3–0. Senior midfielder Beth Yeager assisted both Thompson’s first goal and Lindsey’s goal, moving her from 10th to seventh all-time on the assist leaderboard for Princeton Field Hockey.
“You never want to underestimate or overestimate any opponent,” Yeager commented to the ‘Prince’ about playing Dartmouth. “We need to approach every game the same way. It’s not easy to get on the bus and drive all the way up there and play, and it was important for us to get off to a good start the way we did. I was so happy for Caitlin to get her first two, especially since she’s played so well all season.”
Sophomore midfielder Molly Nye scored again with another goal in the third quarter, leaving the Tigers up by four and Dartmouth unable to answer in the last quarter, let alone secure a single goal against the Tigers. Neither team found the back of the cage in the fourth.
In a season when they’ve been working on offensive production, the Tigers outshot Dartmouth 22–4.
“Twenty-two shots is always a great statistic. The focus since Harvard is to take more risk and on our forward movement in the circle. It’s a credit to our forwards that we are not just getting more shots, but converting on them as well,” Tagliente elaborated about her team’s offense.
This offensive prowess from Princeton paired with only one on-target shot from the Big Green that junior goalie Olivia Caponiti had to save meant another win added to the Tigers’ record. This game was one of two games in Princeton’s fall break away series. Following Dartmouth, Princeton went on to beat the reigning NCAA Division 1 champions, the Northwestern Wildcats, in Illinois.
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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