Over the weekend, No.18 Field Hockey (4–2 overall, 1–0 Ivy League) picked up two wins over Penn (1–5, 0–1 Ivy League) and No.13 Rutgers (3–4, 0–1 Big Ten).
The Tigers were led by two Greenwich natives — junior midfielder Beth Yeager and senior forward Grace Schulze. Yeager scored a hat-trick to pace the Tigers to a comfortable 3–0 win over the Quakers. Less than 48 hours later, Schulze scored the first three goals of her season to propel the Tigers over their Garden State rivals.
Tigers shut out Quakers behind Yeager's hat-trick
One year ago, Penn shocked Princeton in an upset that broke a 17-game losing streak to the Tigers. This year, there was absolutely no cause for doubt as Princeton cruised by them in a three-goal shutout.
Penn had already been battle-tested coming in against the Tigers, having played three other ranked opponents this season before Friday. However, the experience wasn’t enough, with the final result swinging the same way as the prior three.
The scoring opened quickly for the Tigers when Schulze fired off a penalty corner to Yeager, who beat Penn goalie Ruby de Frees to put the Tigers on the board just under four minutes into the game.
Playing with a lead, Princeton controlled the ball for the vast majority of the rest of the first half, stopping any downfield play in the first period and surrendering only a single shot in the second period that senior goalie Robyn Thompson saved.
Coming out of the break, Penn wouldn’t have much more luck offensively, and Yeager doubled the Princeton lead with an unassisted goal nine minutes into the third.
And that's two today for Princeton, and for Beth Yeager. Did this one herself. 2-0 Tigers, late third. pic.twitter.com/aNBkaUJo7I
— Princeton FH (@TigerFH) September 20, 2024
Yeager’s barrage continued soon after, following the opening minutes where fourth junior defender Ella Hampson found her yet again to seal the game for good.
Penn put together a bit more of an offensive threat in the remainder of the fourth, stringing together a few more penalty corners and shots, but Thompson wouldn’t be put to work blocking anything as no more shots came on goal.
Yeager had no chance to play the Quakers last year while on a gap year preparing for the Olympics, but she had their number Friday. She created a barrage against de Frees, firing off eight shots and five shots on goal on her way to the hat-trick.
“The team did a great job of connecting with each other and having great passing combinations to move the ball up the field,” Yeager told The Daily Princetonian after the game. “Our forwards were very successful at putting Penn’s defense under a lot of pressure and we created a lot of opportunities off of counter attacks.”
The Princeton defense that has been so prominent in the season’s opening also gave Penn no hope. The Quakers had a season-high number of penalty corners with four, but they weren’t able to make anything out of them.
In fact, Penn as a team couldn’t even match Yeager and only mustered eight shots and four shots on goal (all of which were saved by Thompson) across the entire game. Yeager’s offensive outburst was recognized in yet another Ivy Offensive Player of the Week award for the star. All in all, it was a dominating start to Ivy League play with a touch of revenge from last year.
Schulze shines in upset win over Jersey rivals
Last season, in an overtime loss to the No.1 ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels, Schulze suffered a season-ending injury. After an impressive sophomore year that saw her finish with six goals and 10 assists en route to a second-team all-ivy selection, her junior season was cut short after just 77 minutes.
After not finding the back of the net during the team’s first five games of the season, Schulze exploded against the Scarlet Knights, scoring a hat-trick to upset their Garden State rivals.
Off a penalty corner two minutes into the game, Yeager found Schulze to put the Tigers up 1–0 in Piscataway, New Jersey. However, the hosts were keen on getting one back.
Less than five minutes later, it was yet another corner leading to a goal. The ball was played in, deflecting off a Tiger stick and falling in front of Scarlet Knight captain Guillermina Causarano, who finished past Thompson to tie the game at one-one.
In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Rutgers took a 2–1 lead that they would hold for a staggering 40 minutes. During that stretch, Rutgers earned multiple corners and tested Thompson, who stepped up to the occasion every time.
With just over four minutes remaining in the game, Schulze took matters into her own hands. Picking up a loose ball and going coast to coast, Schulze equalized the game. Just 37 seconds later, the Tigers caught the Scarlet Knights off guard after earning another corner. Similar to the Tigers' first goal of the game, it was Yeager finding Schulze for the game-winner.
Did we say it was tied? That's three for Grace Schulze.
— Princeton FH (@TigerFH) September 22, 2024
Final score: Princeton 3, Rutgers 2. pic.twitter.com/zflV16GL7v
“It was awesome to see Grace score a hat trick on Sunday,” Yeager said. “She worked so hard to come back from her injury and you could see that same perseverance and resolve in that game, scoring all three goals to win the game from behind, two of which came in the last five minutes. The team is very lucky to have such a skilled striker and fierce competitor.”
The win provided the Tigers a confidence boost as they head into a crucial week of games. On Friday, the Tigers will travel to the Big Apple to take on Columbia (2–3, 1–0) in another Ivy League contest. Before the season, the Lions were picked to finish last in the preseason media poll. However, they started their Ivy League campaign with a big win over Cornell.
48 hours later, the Tigers will play just their second home game of the season when they take on the No.1 ranked Northwestern Wildcats (8–0, 2–0 Big Ten) at Bedford Field.
“Facing Northwestern will be a great test and the team is really looking forward to competing against them. We will have to be very disciplined in our defensive structures and capitalize on our offensive opportunities,” Yeager concluded. “They are a great team but what will make us the most successful is playing to our strengths; continuing our great ball movement and defensive pressure. It’s also important that we bring focus and intensity to our performance against Columbia on Friday as well so that we continue our positive momentum into our game on Sunday.”
Hayk Yengibaryan is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Tate Hutchins is an associate Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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