Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Pennsylvania
Penn Scores With No Time Remaining to Upend Princeton in Field Hockey, 2-1
November 05, 2004 | Field Hockey
Nov. 5, 2004
Box Score
In sports there always have been, and there always will be, heartbreaking endings. Unfortunately, Friday night at Class of 1952 Stadium, the Princeton field hockey team was on the wrong side of one of those endings.
Penn's Cara Calahan scored her second goal of the game with no time remaining on the second half clock, shoving a loose ball into the Princeton net after an initial Penn penalty-corner situation was unsuccessful, as the Quakers earned a share of their first Ivy League title since 1993 with a 2-1 victory over the stunned Tigers.
"That's the way sports is sometimes," said Tiger head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn. "You can really control a game, especially in the second half, and it can still end like that." Princeton (7-10, 5-2 Ivy) certainly did control the play in the second half, outshooting the Quakers (13-4, 6-1 Ivy) 13-4 in the final 35 minutes. The Tigers, who fell behind 1-0 late in the first half when Penn's Calahan scored on a breakaway situation, got a spectacular backhand goal from Paige Schmidt just five minutes into the second half to tie the game at 1-1. The Tigers then had several more opportunities in the half, getting eight penalty-corner chances, but were unable to capitalize.
Penn, which won its eighth straight game overall and defeated Princeton for the first time since 1993, was helped by eight saves from goalie Liz Schlossberg and one defensive save from senior Kate Murphy, who swatted away a shot a penalty-corner situation from Schmidt that was headed toward the goal in the final 10 minutes of the game.
With the win, Penn also ended Princeton's 10-year run as Ivy League champions. The Quakers can earn the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid if Columbia upsets Harvard Saturday; if the Crimson defeat the Lions, Harvard will go to the NCAA tournament based on its head-to-head win over Penn earlier this year.
"Obviously we would have loved to get to the NCAA tournament for our seniors, but I'm proud of how this team responded this year," said Holmes-Winn.
The Tigers, who started the year 1-5, rebounded to win four straight games in October and give themselves a shot at an 11th straight league title. With Penn's win Friday, no team has won 11 straight Ivy titles in any sport since official Ivy play began in 1956.
The game was the final one at Princeton for eight Tiger seniors, who were honored in a ceremony prior to the game. Princeton won three Ivy titles and earned three NCAA tournament bids during their careers, careers that ended in heartbreaking fashion but certainly won't be defined by that ending.