Field Hockey: Tigers take 1st Ivy loss since 2007

On Saturday, the field hockey team became Princeton’s first squad in any sport to play an Ivy League contest this season. The Tigers traveled to Hanover, N.H., and came away with a surprising result — a 2-1 Dartmouth win.

Princeton has new players in new roles, with four former All-Americas now playing with the U.S. National Team, and the team will now be playing from a very unfamiliar position. After its first conference loss since 2007, the Tigers no longer control their destiny for the Ivy League title.

“I do not care about titles. I care about maximizing our potential and performing to our capabilities,” head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said in an email. “If that yields a league title, then great.”

The Tigers (2-4), winners of 16 of the last 17 league championships, were clear favorites even on the road against Dartmouth (4-2), which finished in a three-way tie for fourth place last year and lost 9-1 at Princeton. Though the visitors created a fair share of chances, they could not convert. Princeton outshot the hosts 17-10 and earned 10 corners to the Big Green’s five, but it still came out on the losing side.

“I don’t believe in luck. I try to train my teams to create a margin for victory that overcomes the vagaries of the game,” Holmes-Winn said. “If we are doing our job we should never be in a position to be ‘unlucky.’ We will create our luck by being smarter, more disciplined and tougher on ourselves in practice.”

Dartmouth goalie Meagan Vakiener made seven saves in the game. Freshman midfielder Sydney Kirby slipped a shot past her in the 51st minute, tying the game at 1-1 with her first collegiate goal, but Princeton could not repeat the effort.

With a quarter of an hour to play, Dartmouth midfielder Kelly Hood beat sophomore goalie Christina Maida for a second time, giving the Big Green another edge. None of Princeton’s final five shots found the back of the cage as Dartmouth sealed the upset victory.

“We are creating the right type of opportunities. We are just not finishing in the final moment,” Holmes-Winn said. “A lot of it has to do with a lack of attention to our body position and incorrect ball placement. Our players know what to do in the circle — it is simply a matter of composure and execution under pressure. We are making things more difficult than necessary.”

The Tigers, on the heels of a difficult league loss, traveled across the Northeast to face No. 5 Syracuse on the road the next day. Maida and Princeton’s defense held the Orange (5-2) at bay for 54 minutes, as the sophomore made seven saves in the match. But Syracuse midfielder Martina Loncarica broke the scoreless tie on a penalty stroke, opening the floodgates, as the hosts added four goals in the final 11 minutes for a 5-0 victory.

The visitors only managed two shots on goal in defeat.

Princeton looks to rebound from its slow start when it returns home to host Yale on Saturday.