Princeton University Athletics
Field Hockey Opens Season Saturday at American
September 02, 2005 | Field Hockey
Sept. 2, 2005
Princeton, N.J. - When the Princeton field hockey team takes the field Saturday afternoon at American for the first time this season, questions of uncertainty surrounding the team will begin to be answered. The 2004 Tigers were a senior-laden group. Now, eight of those experienced players have graduated, and a class of 10 freshmen has descended on Princeton.
Leading the way will be seniors Lauren Ehrlichman, Maren Ford, Liz Miller and Hilary Schmidt. The group experienced two Ivy League championships in their first two seasons at Princeton, endured a tough 2004 season, and hopes to rebound with another title in 2005.
Princeton's junior class is made up of just two players, both goalkeepers, Allison Nemeth and Juliana Simon. The Tigers have five sophomores on their roster, but only two of those players, Paige Schmidt and Nicole Ng saw significant playing time as freshmen.
Princeton almost has as many freshmen (10) as it does returning players (11). The abundance of young players brings talent, exuberance and optimism, but at the same time, uncertainty, as many of those players will be expected to contribute from the start of Saturday's opening game.
The Tigers open against an American squad that is already 2-0 on the season after wins at Richmond and Old Dominion. Princeton is 6-0 all-time against the Eagles and is 3-0 in Washington, D.C. The team's last played in 1988. Saturday's game will be broadcast by American and a link can be found by clicking here. Princeton opens its home schedule on Wednesday night against Penn State and hosts Yale in both team's Ivy opener next weekend.
More news and notes...
Unusual Territory - Princeton is not the Ivy champion entering the season for the first time since 1994. The Tigers had won 10 straight Ivy titles before Harvard and Penn shared the title last year.
Impressive Numbers - Princeton has a 71-3 (95.9%) record in Ivy League play since the beginning of the 1994 season. The Tigers won 35 straight Ivy games from 1994-99 and 32 straight league games from 1999-2004 before falling to Dartmouth Sept. 18.
More Impressive Numbers - The Tigers have the following active winning streak against Ivy League opponents: Cornell, 12 games dating back to 1993; Columbia, eight games dating back to 1997; Harvard, 11 games dating back to 1994; Brown, five games dating back to 2000; and Yale, 20 games dating back to 1985.
By the Percentages - In 2004, eight of Princeton's 19 active players were seniors (42%). In 2005, 10 of Princeton's 21 active players will be freshmen (48%).
U.S.A., U.S.A. - Senior Lauren Ehrlichman was named to the United States Junior World Cup team in July. Ehrlichman will miss a portion of Princeton's season to compete in that tournament in Chile from Sept. 14-25.
More U.S.A., U.S.A. - Head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn came out of "retirement" to play for the U.S. national team this past summer. Holmes-Winn, who last played for the national team in the Year 2000, was a starter for the U.S. team in the Rabobank Champions Challenge in Virginia Beach and in several test series matches.
Even More U.S.A., U.S.A. - Incoming freshman Sarah Reinprecht is a member of the U.S. Under-21 national team.
I'm Honored - Senior Maren Ford has earned second-team All-Ivy honors each of the past two seasons. Ford led the Tigers with eight goals in 2003.
More Honors - Paige Schmidt earned second-team All-Ivy honors as a freshman and won the league's Rookie of the Week honor twice in 2004. Schmidt led the Tigers with 50 overall shots and 32 shots on goal last season.
Also Honored - Allison Nemeth was the 2003 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, but a quad injury forced her to miss the first 10 games of the 2004 season. She played every minute in goal for the Tigers the final seven games of last season.
The Opposition - Princeton plays five teams in 2005 that it did not play in 2004 (Albany, American, Hofstra, Rutgers, Villanova) and three teams that it has never before played (Albany, Hofstra and Villanova).
Cornered - Princeton averaged more than 10 penalty-corner attempts per game in two seasons under head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn, while its opponents have averaged fewer than five penalty-corner attempts in 35 games in that same time period.
Versatility - Two of Princeton's freshman players, Holly McGarvie and Kristin Schwab, will also play lacrosse at Princeton. In recent years, Kelly Darling `05, the field hockey team's leading scorer in 2004, and Rachael Becker `03, the national lacrosse player of the year in 2003, also played both sports.
On Schedule - Princeton plays eight of its first 11 games at home in 2005 before playing five of its final six games away from Class of 1952 Stadium. The Tigers have a five-game home stand from Sept. 24-Oct. 7.