No. 2 Field Hockey (16–3 overall, 6–1 Ivy League) beat the Fairfield Stags (16–6, 9–0 Northeast Conference) 3–1 to advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday, continuing a historically deep run for the Tigers.
Princeton played the game without junior captain and midfielder Ella Cashman, who suffered a torn ACL in their first Ivy League Tournament title win. Cashman had facilitated much of the Tigers’ patient passing. First-year Tabby Vaughan got the start against the Stags in her place.
“The whole training yesterday she was hyping me up and giving me lots of love. I was really excited to play, but it’s obviously heart-breaking for Cash,” Vaughan told The Daily Princetonian.
Despite the lineup changes, the Tigers turned on the gas to open the game. Not even three minutes into the action, sophomore defender Izzy Morgan found the back of the cage off an assist from sophomore midfielder Anna Faulstich.
“It was awesome. It was a backpost goal — something we had really been working on,” Morgan said. “I saw Anna with an opportunity and I called to her.”
Princeton comfortably brought the ball into the Stags’ circle and beyond the 25 for the remainder of the quarter. No other goals were recorded after the first 15 minutes ended, making it 1–0 Tigers.
The second quarter started with a corner for the Stags, the first of the game, who managed to equalize with a simple pass to the edge of the shooting circle and a shot which was deflected into the top corner of the Princeton net. Without Cashman’s presence to protect Tiger territory, Fairfield’s offensive effort overwhelmed the Princeton defensive penalty corner unit, scoring a goal.
Princeton fans didn’t have to worry for long, however. With about six minutes left in the half, senior midfielder Beth Yeager connected on a drag flick to make the score 2–1.
“‘Step up defensively and be more aggressive.’ I thought we were letting them [Fairfield] receive too easily,” Head Coach Carla Tagliente told the ‘Prince’ about her advice to the team during the halftime break. “‘Open them up a little bit more.’ We were playing a bit too much ping pong back and forth. ‘Control the pace of the game.’”
After the halftime recess, Fairfield came out fired up. Both teams would gather possessions, but as quickly as they would secure the ball, the other team would take it away. Neither team scored in the third, although Princeton was able to keep the ball on the Stags’ side of the field for the majority of the quarter.
“We all knew it [scoring] was coming,” Vaughan said about the scoreless third quarter. “I think we were all just trying to keep positive, keep the emotions high. We were getting a bit frustrated with each other, but we knew we could do this as a team.”
With five minutes left to play, Fairfield took their goalie out of the game and added an extra field athlete into the mix. A shot by senior defender Ella Hampson a few minutes later didn’t even have to make it past the keeper, securing a 3–1 Princeton victory.
The Tigers are now in the Elite Eight and are set to play against Syracuse on Sunday at 1 p.m. back on Bedford Field. Syracuse handed Princeton one of their three losses of the season in overtime. The Orange and Black versus the Orange and Blue is one of the most anticipated games in this bracket.
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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