In a series of weekend victories, the Tigers (15–3 overall, 8–1 Ivy League) proved to be the best in the conference, winning the program’s first-ever Ivy League Tournament title. With a 3–0 victory against Yale (12–5, 4–3) and a 2–1 win against Harvard (17–1, 8–1), Princeton secured themselves an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Three goals saw Tigers ease past Yale in first round victory
On Friday, the second-seeded Tigers got it done against the third-seeded Bulldogs in the first round of the Ivy League tournament.
Off their first corner of the game, the plan was for second-team All-Ivy junior defender Ottilie Sykes to drive the ball straight into the goal, but Yale’s keeper saved the first shot. That didn’t matter though, as sophomore forward Pru Lindsey was able to control the rebound for the redirect straight into the corner of the cage. Princeton led 1–0 at the end of the quarter.
“It felt amazing to get that early goal, it really settled us in and set the tone,” Lindsey told The Daily Princetonian. “There are always some nerves going into a tournament game, but scoring early definitely helped us relax and play our game with confidence.”
Princeton was able to get another point on the board less than three minutes into the second quarter. This time, sophomore midfielder Anna Faulstich got her goal after a backpost feed from senior forward Ella Hampson.
“I could see the play developing on the right side, so from my position on the left I made sure to get to the back post; that’s something we’ve really emphasized throughout the season,” Faulstich told the ‘Prince.’ “In training, we actually have a little rule where if you miss a back-post opportunity, you owe ten push-ups, so that was definitely in the back of my mind as the ball came across.”
Luckily for Faulstich, no push ups will be in her future, as the Tigers led 2–0 going into the half. Yale was only able to get one shot off in the first 30 minutes compared to the six shot attempts Princeton had.
“They [Yale] play very direct. We handled that well the first time we played them but fell asleep at the end of that game which almost cost us,” Head Coach Carla Tagliente told the ‘Prince.’ “We approached their directness differently this time — rather than trying to press them aggressively, we sat back and created more layers under the ball. It allowed us to be in better intercept and counter attack positions.”
The third quarter followed the same Princeton dominance of the first half. The Tigers did not give the Bulldogs any lanes to progress the ball.
Princeton ended the quarter with two offensive penalty corners. The first one didn’t yield a goal, but the second one put the Tigers up 3–0 when senior midfielder Beth Yeager drag flicked the ball through Yale’s goalie’s pads, earning Yeager her 55th career goal and 11th of the season.
Yeager, who was named the co-Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year last Wednesday, makes history as the first Ivy League player to win four of these awards in a career.
Yeager closed out the scoring, as neither team found the goal in the fourth quarter. Yale failed to earn any offensive momentum against the Tigers, ending the game with a final score of 3–0 in favor of Princeton.
Princeton beats Harvard 2–1 to end their undefeated streak and win the Tournament
Princeton versus Harvard. A classic. In Ivy League field hockey, the matchup doesn’t get any better than this.
The last time these two teams met, it was on Princeton’s home turf. The game was supposed to be closer than the score reflected, with Harvard coming out on top in September 3–1.
The latest game was a gritty matchup. Princeton got in the Crimson circle within the first two minutes of the contest, a good sign early on. Harvard didn’t let anything develop, though, leading to constant back and forth in the first quarter. The first fifteen minutes ended with two zeros on the scoreboard.
“We felt very confident going into the game,” said Yeager, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “Harvard’s obviously a great team, but I think having already played them in the season, we knew what to expect and how we wanted to improve.”
After a neck and neck first quarter, the Crimson received a green card with 13:50 left in the half, putting the Tigers up a player.
Yeager capitalized on the numbers advantage, drawing the first corner of the game. After an official review, the call on the field was changed from a corner to a penalty stroke. Lindsey, an Ivy League all-tournament team selection, took the stroke, sending it straight to the back of the goal to make it 1–0.
The Crimson quickly retaliated, however. With just under three minutes to play in the half, Harvard quickly restarted the ball. Crimson midfielder Lara Beekhuis clanged one in, sending it to the opposite corner of Princeton’s cage as the teams entered halftime.
With the clock ticking on in the third quarter, Yeager secured a Tiger corner, the first of the game. In this game, one corner yielded a second, and Yeager tried her drag flick once more. This time, it found the back of the goal, putting Princeton up one.
The Crimson then received two offensive penalty corner calls of their own, but neither were converted into points. At the end of the third, the Tigers led 2–1.
The urgency built during the last quarter. With one minute left in the matchup, Harvard made it into Tiger territory and earned an attack corner.
Junior goalie Olivia Caponiti made a timely save, but Harvard managed to get the rebound and fire an airborne ball past her glove. Despite the ball making it to the back of the cage, an official blew the whistle, calling another corner off the original play before the putback.
Harvard wasn’t able to score on that second corner, and that was it. Princeton eliminated the possibility of Harvard’s three-peat Ivy League Tournament champion title, and the Tigers got the revenge they had been waiting for.
“It was the best feeling ever," Caponiti said. “I’m just so happy and excited because we all knew we could do it. Even though it was a stressful ending, I think that made the celebration even better.”
This win gave Princeton an automatic bid to the NCAA post-season tournament where they were seeded No. 2 and will play the winner of Fairfield (15–5, 9–0 Northeast Conference) and Boston University (8–10, 3–3 Patriot League) on Friday at home.
“This has been three years coming now,” Tagliente explained. “We’ve been in the final, and to push through and win it has been great. This meant a lot to the seniors, to Beth [Yeager]. This team deserves it.”
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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