Field hockey dominates ODU in season-opener before falling to UNC in dramatic shootout fashion

No. 2 Princeton (1–1 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) opened up their season with a 4-0 win against No. 18 Old Dominion University (3-1, 0-0 Big East Conference) and a 1-0 loss in a shootout against No. 10 University of North Carolina (2-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).

The Tigers came out guns blazing against ODU, with junior midfielder Anna Faulstich scoring in the first minute of their first game. The ball was redirected from sophomore midfielder Tabby Vaughan’s drive at the top of the circle on an attack penalty corner. 

Among the other Tigers that scored, senior defender Hope Delaney saw the back of the cage for the first time in her career with a beautiful reverse in space just inside the circle. Faulstich got a notch in the assist column for that one. 

Junior forward Pru Lindsey and junior midfielder Molly Nye each scored as well to make it 4-0, solidifying a convincing win for the Tigers.

Despite losing two-time Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year Beth Yeager ’26, Princeton did return ten of their 11 starters from their exhilarating National Championship-caliber season.

On top of the existing starters on the 2026 Princeton roster, the Orange and Black has one of the strongest recruiting classes in the class of 2030. Players like defender and midfielder Reese Milone — younger sister to sophomore forward and midfielder Saylor Milone — midfielder Lilly Cimaroli, forward Lizzie Trant, and midfielder Lilly McMahon make up the group, and they stepped up like veterans in this first weekend of competition.

“Everyone wanted to win and everyone had one goal in mind, and that’s what showed on the field,” Reese Milone told The Daily Princetonian about opening weekend.

The last time Princeton beat UNC was 2012, a 3-2 victory that resulted in the program’s lone national championship. This season, UNC got off to an uncharacteristic start, losing to both Michigan (3–1, 0–0 Big Ten) and Iowa (4–0, 0–0 Big Ten). 

The first quarter was back and forth playing in between the 25s. Neither team could truly break each other’s presses. In the second quarter, Milone had a golden opportunity to get on the board when she got the ball back on the post after she inserted it during a corner, but UNC’s goalkeeper made an unbelievable stick save to keep the score 0-0 going into the locker rooms at halftime.

The Tigers turned it up in the third quarter. They put on the pressure getting multiple circle opportunities and going man-up multiple times because of UNC green cards. Princeton was knocking on the door, but the Tigers couldn’t put the game away in regulation. 

“We need to keep working and keep capitalizing on the opportunities we get,” Milone said. “We had so many opportunities but it just comes down to finishing.”

So to overtime they went, a situation the veteran Tigers know all too well from their double-overtime loss to Northwestern in the National Championship last season. One of the new rules approved for Division I play this season was about the overtime structure. The NCAA DI teams switched from a 7-on-7 format for two 15-minute periods and a shootout afterward if necessary to an 11-11 15-minute period and then a shootout directly after that. Princeton Head Coach Carla Tagliente had pushed for the rule. 

After the two overtime periods, Princeton and UNC needed a shootout. For field hockey fans, it was the game of the day, and definitely the game of the season for Princeton so far. 

In a shootout, five players each have eight seconds to score on the opposing team’s keeper. Princeton’s five players were three first-years, a sophomore, and a junior. 

Trant, Cimaroli, and Faulstich couldn’t connect on the first three attempts. UNC got their first two to go. This meant that senior goalkeeper Olivia Caponiti needed to save the rest of the UNC shots in order to give her Tigers a chance to tie, and Princeton was going to need to go two for two against UNCs keeper to survive. 

Princeton was up. Reese Milone was Princeton’s last shot, literally, at tying the game. She got ready, started her routine, and tried to make something happen, but then a foul was called on UNC’s keeper. Milone got another chance. She connected. 

UNC’s turn. Eight seconds ticked by. No ball got past Caponiti. No goal. 

Princeton was up. Sophomore defender and midfielder Gabriella Anderson got the ball in the goal. Her face was priceless as ESPN panned to her reaction from seeing the ball clang against the cage — a mix of “How did I do that?” and pride. 

The rest fell on Caponiti — nothing the Tiger goalie isn’t used to. 

UNC first-year Sofia Ferri toed the line. As eight seconds were winding down, it seemed like Caponiti had succeeded in giving the Tigers another chance, but the referees called a foul on her this time. That’s when Ferri got it to go in the opposite corner. 

“We dominated Sunday, we just didn’t get the outcome,” Tagliente told the ‘Prince.’ 

Princeton takes on Talia Schenck ’26 and No. 20 Rutgers (2–2, 0–0 Big Ten) on Friday in their first home game of the season. 

Emilia Reay is a senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.