Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Rallies to Stay Alive in Hunt for Ivy Crown in Field Hockey
October 23, 1999 | Field Hockey
Oct. 23, 1999
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Princeton University field hockey team was seven minutes away from a devastating loss that would have all-but eliminated it from the Ivy League race and continued a streak of bad breaks and disappointing losses.
Two penalty corners later, the Tigers are savoring a huge 3-2 win over league rival Harvard. Ilvy Friebe (Fr., Bonn, Germany) tipped in a penalty-corner to even the score at 2-2 with 6:11 remaining in regulation, and Melanie Meerschwam (Jr., Amstelveen, The Netherlands) tipped in another penalty corner during the first overtime to clinch the win.
Harvard jumped out to leads of 1-0 and 2-1, thanks to a pair of goals by Kalen Ingram. The Tigers went into halftime with a 1-1 tie after tri-captain Kate Carroll (Sr., West Brookfield, Mass.) beat Harvard goalkeeper Anya Cowan with 16:13 remaining in the first half.
Princeton goalkeeper Kelly Baril (Fr., Peabody, Mass.) saved four of six shots for her seventh career victory.
The win keeps Princeton as the only team with a realistic shot at catching Brown for the league title. Brown defeated Penn 4-1 today at Franklin Field and are the only 5-0 team in the league. Princeton sports a 4-1 record, but the sole loss came at the hands of Brown (2-1 in Providence). Princeton must win out (11/3 vs. Columbia, 11/5 at Penn) and needs Brown to lose once (10/30 vs. Cornell, 11/6 vs. Harvard) to claim a share of the league crown, which would be an unprecedented sixth straight title for the Tigers. That alone wouldn't send the Tigers to the NCAA tournament, as Brown would claim the automatic berth via the head-to-head win. To assure a sixth straight trip to the tournament, Princeton needs to win out and Brown must lose both of its final two league games.
There is still hope, though, thanks to a gutsy, come-from-behind rally from a team that was overdue for a reason to smile.
Princeton (7-5, 4-1) 1 1 1 - 3 Harvard (9-4, 3-2) 1 1 0 - 2Scoring: H- Ingram 1:25 P- Carroll 18:47 H- Ingram (Nagle) 56:02 P- Friebe 63:49 P- Meerschwam 78:12
Shots- P: 12, H: 8. Corners- P: 8, H: 7. Saves- P: Baril 4, H: Cowan 7.