Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Princeton Hosts Rider Tuesday in NCAA Play-In Game
November 07, 2011 | Field Hockey
NCAA Tournament Play-In Game
GAMETIME: Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.
RECORDS: Princeton (9-7, 6-1 Ivy); Rider (19-1, 7-0 NEC)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 8-1-1 overall and 3-1-1 at home
LAST MEETING: Princeton won 3-1 on Sept. 13, 1994 at home
STREAK: Princeton has won the last three meetings
LINKS: Livestats | Live Video
PRINCETON (11/6/11) - The Ivy League champion Princeton field hockey team will play for a spot in the 2011 NCAA tournament on Tuesday afternoon when it hosts Northeast Conference champion Rider at 1 p.m., at Class of '52 Stadium. The winner of the game will receive an automatic bid to the tournament.
Princeton earned a spot in the play-in game as the Ivy League champion. Princeton actually shared the league title with Yale as both teams finished the seven-game Ivy slate with 6-1 records. Princeton earned the spot in Tuesday's game by virtue of its 3-2 win over Yale on Sept. 24.
The Tigers are 9-7 overall and enter the Tuesday's game having won three games in a row and six of their last eight. The stretch began with an overtime win over Columbia and also included wins over Virginia, Brown, Harvard and Cornell. Princeton clinched a share of the Ivy title and the spot in the play-in game with a 3-0 win at Penn on Friday night. Amanda Bird scored two goals in the win for the Tigers and Molly Goodman added the third as Princeton recorded its fourth shutout in a row in the series with Penn.
Bird has scored two goals in each of Princeton's last two games and has climbed to second on the team in goals scored and third in points. Allison Evans has a team high 10 goals and 25 points. She is followed by Sydney Kirby's 23 points (8-7) and Bird's 21 (9-3). Twelve Tigers have scored goals this season and 15 have recorded points.
Rider won the Northeast Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Broncs are 19-1 overall and have won their last 15 games, including wins over Saint Francis and Monmouth this past weekend at home to win the Northeast Conference tournament. Rider's only loss of the season came on Sept. 11 at Hofstra. Princeton and Rider share two common opponents this season and have the same results against each, topping both Bucknell and Penn. Princeton did not play an NEC team this season and has not faced one since defeating Monmouth in the 2007 season.
Princeton is 8-1-1 all-time against Rider and holds a 3-1-1 record in games played at home. Although the campuses are only eight miles apart along Route 206, the teams have not met since the 1994 season when Princeton earned a 3-1 win at home. All seven meetings between the schools came between the 1985 and 1994 seasons.
Princeton enters Tuesday's game with an eye on the NCAA tournament and its 16th overall appearance. Princeton has appeared in three play-in games, winning its way into the tournament field in 1996 over Patriot League Champion Colgate and in 2008 over NorPac Champion Stanford. Princeton lost to A-10 Champion Massachusetts in the 2007 play-in.
The game is one of three play-in games scheduled for Tuesday. The other games feature Patriot League champion Lafayette at MAC champion Ohio and A-10 champion Richmond at NorPac champion California. Five conference champions have already received automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. They are New Hampshire (America East), North Carolina (ACC), Old Dominion (CAA), Penn State (Big Ten) and Syracuse (Big East). The next three teams will come from the play-in games and the final eight will be at-large selections.
The 2011 NCAA Field Hockey tournament field will be announced on Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., live on NCAA.com.