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Players Mentioned
No. 4 Field Hockey to Open 2012 vs. No. 5 Duke & No. 13 Wake Forest
August 30, 2012 | Field Hockey
Game Info: Friday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m.
Location: Durham, N.C.
All-Time Series Record: Princeton leads 3-2
Last Meeting: Nov. 11, 2005; Duke won 2-1 (2OT) in NCAA Tournament
Live Stats l Live Video (Watch on GoPrincetonTigers.tv)
No. 4 Princeton (0-0) at No. 13 Wake Forest (1-1)
Game Info: Sunday, Sept. 2 at 1 p.m.
Location: Winston-Salem, N.C.
All-Time Series Record: Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: Oct. 9, 2011; Wake Forest won 3-2 (OT)
Live Stats
Preview Video l Game Notes l @PUTIGERS l @TigerFH
Hello 2012: The No. 4 Princeton field hockey team is slated to kick off the 2012 campaign this weekend versus a pair of top-25 squads in No. 5 Duke and No. 13 Wake Forest. The Tigers' season-opener is on Friday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. against the Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. Two days later Princeton will travel to nearby Winston-Salem, N.C. to square off with Wake Forest at 1 p.m.
A Look at 2011: Despite missing four starters throughout the year due to U.S. National Team duties, the Tigers went 10-8, 6-1 Ivy League en route to capturing their 20th overall and seventh consecutive conference title. Following a 1-0 double overtime victory over Rider in the Play-In Game, Princeton fell 3-2 to Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament First Round in Storrs, Conn.
Allison Evans earned Ivy Rookie of the Year and first-team honors, as seven Tigers earned conference honors last year. First-Team Ivy accolades also went to Amanda Bird, Charlotte Krause and Alyssa Pyros, while Erin Jennings and Sydney Kirby were second-team honorees and Amy Donovan was an honorable mention selection.
Bird, an All-America Second Team, Evans and Krause earned Longstreth/NFHCA DI All-Region First Team honors, and Jennings, Kirby and Pyros were second team selections.
On Deck: Princeton will remain on the road, visiting No. 9 Penn State on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. The Tigers will host their home opener and first game at the newly constructed Bedford Field on Sunday, Sept. 9 versus Richmond at 12 noon. The Richmond game opens up a three-game homestand.
Follow the Tigers: Live video and stats will be available for all Princeton home games at GoPrincetonTigers.com.
Get Connected: Are you following Princeton on Facebook and Twitter? Follow the athletics department at Facebook.com/PrincetonAthletics and Twitter.com/PUTIGERS. Connect with the Tiger Field Hockey program at Facebook.com/TigerFH or Twitter.com/TigerFH.
Scouting No. 5 Duke: No. 5 Duke host its home opened versus the Tigers after opening the year 1-1. The Blue Devils were shutout, 1-0, in their season opener at Drexel on Aug. 24, before rebounding at Temple two days later with a 2-1 victory.
Chelsea Amsley and Jessica Buttinger have a goal apiece, and Martine Chichizola dished up the squad's lone assist on the year.
In goal, Lauren Blazing sports a 2.57 goals against average and has made five saves for a .714 saves percentage.
Tigers All-Time vs. Duke: Princeton and Duke have not met since the 2005 NCAA Tournament First Round on Nov. 12 in Princeton. The Tigers held a 1-0 advantage at halftime, but the Blue Devils managed to even things up in the second half to send the game into extra minutes. In the second overtime period Duke scored the golden goal to advance past Princeton.
Princeton owns the all-time series versus the Blue Devils 3-2.
Scouting No. 13 Wake Forest: The 13th-ranked Demon Deacons of Wake Forest also opened the year 1-1. After falling in its home opener, 3-2 in overtime, to No. 12 Iowa on Aug. 25, WFU bounced with a 2-1 victory over No. 10 Michigan the following day.
Wake Forest has employed a pair of goalkeepers thus far, with Kaitlyn Ruhf playing a majority of the Demon Deacons' minutes. In two starts, Ruhf has a 1.21 goals against average and a .778 saves percentage. She has a 1-1 record and has made seven saves over 116:09 minutes. Valerie Dahmen saw 35 minutes off the bench and allowed a pair of goals in her season debut versus Iowa.
Offensively, four players have scored a goal on the year. Anna Kozniuk leads the attack with a goal and an assist in two starts.
Tigers All-Time vs. Wake Forest: Despite taking the early advantage off a Sydney Kirby goal, Princeton was edged 3-2 in overtime by Wake Forest in its last meeting at home on Oct. 9, 2011.
The current all-time series between the Tigers and Demon Deacons is knotted at 1-1.
No. 4 in the Nation: The Tigers earned the No. 4 ranking in the 2012 Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll. Princeton tallied 609 points and received seven first-place votes in the poll.
Princeton will face eight programs currently ranked in the top-25 during the upcoming campaign. The Tigers will tackle six preseason top-10 teams, including reigning National Champion No. 1 Maryland and No. 5 Duke in the season opener. Also tabbed for 2012 are: No. 6 Connecticut, No. 7 Syracuse, No. 8 Virginia, No. 9 Penn State, No. 13 Wake Forest and No. 25 American.
Welcome Back: This year Princeton returns 18 letterwinners, including the return four veterans who spent the last year playing with the U.S. Senior National Team in Michelle Cesan, Julia Reinprecht, Katie Reinprecht and Kathleen Sharkey. The Tigers also welcome six freshmen to the lineup this fall.
Return of National Team Quartet: After spending the past year-and-a-half training and playing with the U.S. Senior National Team, juniors Michelle Cesan and Julia Reinprecht, and seniors Katie Reinprecht and Kathleen Sharkey return to the pitch. During their time with Team USA, the squad won gold at the Pan Am Games.
Both Reinprecht sisters were then named to the 16-player London Summer Olympics roster, with the duo contributing significantly in their Olympic debut. Cesan was also named one of two alternates to the Games.
Beautiful Bedford: In 2012 the Tiger field hockey program will call the newly constructed Bedford Field home, a state-of-the-art field turf facility.
A Decade Under Holmes-Winn: Head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn is entering her 10th season at the helm of the Tiger field hockey program. During that span Princeton boasts a 110-56-0 overall record and .663 winning percentage. The Tigers have won eight Ivy League titles under Holmes-Winn's tutelage, including the last seven consecutive championships.
Joining Holmes-Winn on the sidelines for her 10th season is assistant coach Melisa Meccage, and both Nate Franks '07 and Mike Pallister are entering their second seasons working under Holmes-Winn.
Kirby Named to U.S. U21 National Team: In July sophomore All-Ivy Sydney Kirby was been named to the 30-player 2012-13 U.S. U21 Junior National Field Hockey Squad.
Kirby, who previously played for the past five years with the U16 through U19 teams, trained with the U21's in preparation for the Junior Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico from Sept. 8-24.
Experienced Rookies: The six-player incoming freshman class boasts a talented group. Each member of the Class of 2016 boasts international youth national team experience, including Teresa Benvenuti who was named to the U.S. Women's Development Squad this past spring.