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Ninth-Ranked Field Hockey Team Surges Past Stanford, Into NCAA Tournament
November 11, 2008 | Field Hockey
The Princeton field hockey team had two choices for today. The ninth-ranked Tigers could hope their Ivy League title and No. 6 RPI would earn them a spot in the 2008 NCAA tournament, or they could just take matters into their own hands. Unfortunately for NorPac champion Stanford, Princeton chose the latter. With two goals in the first three minutes, Princeton cruised to an 8-2 win over Stanford in an NCAA play-in game Tuesday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium.
The win guarantees Princeton one of 16 spots in the NCAA tournament field, which will be announced tonight at 8 p.m. on NCAA.com. This will be Princeton's 13th trip to the NCAAs and fourth under head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn. In Princeton's most recent trip to the national tournament, it upset third-seeded Old Dominion 3-2 in overtime before falling to Connecticut in the national quarterfinals. In 12 tournament appearances, Princeton is 14-12 overall and has made two national finals (1996, 1998).
The Tigers were in control the whole in earning their 13th trip to the tournament. Junior Kaitlyn Perrelle secured a rebound and scored an unassisted goal 1:58 into the game to open a 1-0 lead for Princeton, and freshman teammate Kathleen Sharkey followed 43 seconds later with an unassisted goal of her own to open a 2-0 lead. Stanford was able to keep the deficit manageable for approximately 25 more minutes, but the home team went into overdrive late in the half to built a comfortable margin.
Senior Sarah Reinprecht started the late run by scoring her third goal of the season off a penalty corner at the 27:27 mark, and senior Kristin Schwab followed less than two minutes later by tipping in a pass from Reinprecht past Stanford goalie Alessandra Moss. The 14th goal of the season from Sharkey, this time on an unassisted carry from the center line, gave Princeton the 5-0 advantage just over 30 minutes into the game.
Halftime may have provided a brief reprieve for Stanford, but it wouldn't last long. Perrelle tipped in a pass from Reinprecht at 44:07 to open a six-goal edge, and senior Katie Kinzer scored on a long run less than two minutes later to open the lead to 7-0. Another Reinprecht goal at 58:59 would come between a pair of Stanford scores to make the final score 8-2 and stamp an official ticket into the NCAA tournament field.
Check back with GoPrincetonTigers.com later tonight to find out the opponent, date and location of Princeton's 27th NCAA tournament game.
Princeton's All-Time NCAA Tournament Results
1982
1st Round vs. Delaware (at Temple) L, 2-3
1994
1st Round at Penn State L, 0-5
1995
1st Round SYRACUSE W, 3-0
2nd Round at North Carolina L, 0-6
1996
Play-In COLGATE W, 7-1
1st Round vs. Boston College (at Iowa) W, 5-0
2nd Round at Iowa W, 5-4 (ot)
Semifinals vs. Old Dominion (at Boston) W, 4-3 (ot)
Championship vs. North Carolina (at Boston) L, 0-3
1997
1st Round vs. Boston College (at Maryland) W, 3-2
2nd Round at Maryland W, 4-0
Semifinals vs. North Carolina (at Connecticut) L, 3-4
1998
2nd Round PENN STATE W, 3-1
Semifinals vs. Connecticut (at Penn) W, 4-1
Championship vs. Old Dominion (at Penn) L, 2-3
2000
1st Round vs. Penn State (at Maryland) W, 4-2
2nd Round at Maryland L, 1-3
2001
1st Round NORTHEASTERN W, 4-1
2nd Round OLD DOMINION W, 2-1
Semifinals vs. Michigan (at Kent State) L, 2-4
2002
1st Round vs. Michigan (at Penn State) W, 4-3
2nd Round at Penn State L, 2-3
2003
1st Round vs. Penn State (at Maryland) L, 1-3
2005
1st Round DUKE L, 1-2 (ot)
2006
1st Round OLD DOMINION W, 3-2 (ot)
2nd Round CONNECTICUT L, 0-3