With ranked opponents on horizon, field hockey rolls over hapless Hens

With seven minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the first half, and the field hockey team still tied with Delaware (7-9 overall, 4-1 America East) at 0-0, Princeton fans began to worry as they watched the Tigers' leading scorer, senior attack Hilary Matson, limp off the field.

The No. 7 Tigers (8-3, 4-0 Ivy League), however, saw no reason to get nervous.

"Hilary's our top scorer, but we were confident enough to pull through," sophomore midfielder Ilvy Friebe said. "We told ourselves that we could do better and use the game in preparation for the weekend. We couldn't afford this loss and everyone knew that."

Six minutes later freshman attack Claire Miller, assisted by sophomore defender Emily Townsend, netted the game's first goal and started the whirlwind that eventually swept through 1952 Stadium. The Tigers breezed past Delaware to a 5-0 victory.

"Delaware had good goalkeeping, but we weren't really concerned," head coach Beth Bozman said. "We were having some trouble scoring initially, but we knew what had to be fixed."

The Tigers took the field — literally — when they returned from halftime. The Blue Hens barely had possession of the ball before the Tigers stole it and held on to it for virtually the rest of the game, eventually outshooting Delaware, 29-6.

With 26:17 remaining in the second half, Friebe assisted Townsend — who scored Princeton's second goal of the evening.

The Tigers then added another quick goal when senior captain and attack Melanie Meerschwam slipped one into the Delaware cage, increasing the lead to 3-0.

The Blue Hens called a time out in an attempt to strategize. There was nothing stopping the Tigers, however. Princeton successfully continued to keep the ball out of Delaware's reach.

With 8:51 left in the game, Princeton's lead was further solidified when Miller, assisted by Meerschwam, scored her second goal of the game and the Tigers' fourth goal of the night.

Princeton continued to dominate until the very end. Townsend, assisted by senior attack Kellie Maul, netted the Tigers' fifth and final goal of the game with 4:17 left on the clock.

Princeton will have the home-field advantage again this weekend when it takes on No. 18 Harvard on Saturday and No. 5 Penn State on Sunday.

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"We've played well against the top teams earlier this season and we feel really confident coming into this weekend," Friebe said. "But we can't be fooled by the 5-0 win because Harvard and Penn State are really strong teams."

Bozman expressed a similar hope — that Princeton could build on the victory.

"The second half we had real good team attack. We moved the ball well, overall," she said. "We're pretty happy with tonight's performance. We played well in the second half and that was one of our goals in order to gear up for Saturday."