No. 11 Princeton Seeking Another Deep NCAA Tournament Run, Begins at No. 5 Virginia

Saturday, November 11

Charlottesville, Va.

2:00 PM

Princeton University

Virginia

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

November 09, 2017 | Field Hockey

NCAA Game Notes: No. 5 Virginia
Gametimes	Sat, Nov. 11 - 2 p.m. l Turf Field
Game Coverage	Live Stats l Facebook Live
Twitter	@PUTigers l @VirginiaSports
All-Time Series	Virginia leads Princeton, 7-6
Last Meeting	Nov. 13, 2016 - No. 14 Princeton 3, No. 7 Virginia 2 (Recap)
No. 11 Princeton	Roster l Schedule l Stats l @TigerFH
No. 5 Virginia	Roster l Schedule l @UVAFieldHockey
Related Links	Game Notes Nine Tigers Named All-Ivy Tigers No. 11 in latest NFHCA Coaches' Poll Cat Caro Named To USA National Team

How Did We Get Here?

Princeton is 11-6 overall and 7-0 in the Ivy League.
The Tigers boast four top-25 wins, taking down No. 22 Rutgers (Sept. 8), No. 10 Maryland (Sept. 19), No. 24 Boston (Sept. 24) and No. 15 Harvard (Oct. 21).
The No. 11 nationally ranked Tigers have an RPI of 12 and has faced arguably the hardest schedule in Division-I.
Princeton opened the year with six straight ranked teams.
Since beginning the season 1-4, the Tigers have two separate four-game winning streaks and have rattled off 10-of-12 victories.

Princeton in the NCAA Tournament

Princeton clinched the outright Ivy League championship, its 25th all-time, and the Ivy's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It's the 22nd time that the Tigers have made the Big Dance. The last time that the Tigers did not play in at least the NCAA Play-In Game was in 2004.
The other contest in this bracket will be the No. 1 seeded North Carolina Tarheels and No. 4 seeded St. Joseph's Hawks (11:30 a.m., Nov. 11). The Tarheels are third in the nation while the Hawks are No. 15. The two winners will take on each other on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Ivy League Honors

Ryan McCarthy was honored as the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, while Maddie Bacskai was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Julianna Tornetta as selected as the Ivy Co-Rookie of the Year while Carla Tagliente earned Coach of the Year accolades.
Those three players were picked first-team All-Ivy and unanimous choices as well. Three more Tigers were second-team All-Ivy in MaryKate Neff, Sophia Tornetta and Elise Wong. Grace Baylis, Nicole Catalino and Clara Roth nabbed honorable mention All-Ivy.
Princeton's nine honorees are tied for the second most in program history. The 2012 squad earned 10 All-Ivy selections. This season is the fifth time that the Tigers have had nine selections to the conference teams (1994, 1996, 2009, 2010).

Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year

Ryan McCarthy has been nothing short of extraordinary in her last two seasons, culminating in her Offensive Player of the Year award. The senior captain has 15 goals and 32 points in 2017, which puts her in the top 30 nationally in both categories.
After scoring 12 goals in her first two seasons at Princeton, McCarthy has registered 29 tallies since the beginning of her junior campaign.
She sits in the program's top-10 in career points (95), combined goals and assists (54) and goals (41).
She is the fifth Tiger in the last six seasons to earn the Offensive Player of the Year award.

Freshman Sensations

The freshman class for the Tigers has been incredible for Princeton recording 67 combined points. Clara Roth (6 goals, 11 assists) and Julianna Tornetta (five goals, 13 assists) are tied for second on the squad with 23 points each. Tornetta was Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year while Roth was honorable mention All-Ivy. MaryKate Neff is second on the team with seven goals and was second team All-Ivy.

Defense, Defense, Defense

The Tigers rank in the top-20 nationally in goals-against-average (16th, 1.44) and shutouts per game (11th, 0.31). Princeton had five shutouts this season (Dartmouth, Boston University, Columbia, Northeastern, Harvard). The Tigers had a shutout streak that lasted over 248 minutes.

Stars and Stripes

In January, Katie '13 and Julia '14 Reinprecht retired from the United States National Field Hockey team. The two sisters retire as two-time Olympians, helping the U.S. to fifth place in the 2016 Rio Olympics. It was the team's highest finish since the 1996 summer games in Atlanta. They also won two gold medals at the Pan American Games (2011, 2015). Wrapping up their careers, Katie finished with 166 caps while Julia had 154 caps.
Kathleen Sharkey '13 helped the national squad to a bronze medal in the Pan American Cup in mid-August. She scored five times, leading the tournament in scoring.
Princeton continues to be well-represented with USA Field Hockey as four Tigers were named to the U.S. U-21 National Team and two more to the National Development Squad.
Maddie Bacskai, Julianna Tornetta, Sophia Tornetta and Elise Wong were picked to the U-21 squad while Ryan McCarthy were selected to the development team. Princeton's four representatives on the U-21 team are the most in the country.

Series History

The Tigers are 6-7 all-time vs. Virginia. Princeton has two major wins over the Cavaliers, last year's 3-2 win in the NCAA Quarterfinals and a 5-2 decision on the road in the 2012 NCAA Quarterfinals. The Tigers would go on to win the National Championship that season.
Princeton is 3-8 all-time against North Carolina. The Tar Heels have won four of the last seven meetings, but Tigers won the 2012 National Championship over UNC. Princeton has never faced St. Joseph's.

Scouting Virginia

One of the best offenses in the country, the Cavaliers are currently second in goals (4.53), points (12.53) and penalty corners per game (9.63) as well as scoring margin (+3.0).
Tara Vittese was the ACC Player of the Year for the second straight season. Her 3.26 points per game are second in the country.
Vittese was the 2016 Longstreth/NFHCA National Player of the Year and the fourth player to ever repeat national player of the year

Scouting North Carolina/St. Joe's

No. 5 North Carolina earned the ACC's automatic bid when it dropped Louisville,1-0, in the ACC title game. It's the 15th straight year that the Tar Heels have made the NCAA Tournament. Ashley Hoffman (10 goals, 5 assists) and Gab Major (6 goals, 13 assists) led the Tar Heels with 25 points each.
This is St. Joe's first trip to the NCAA Tournament after dropping UMass in the A-10 Championship. Anna Willocks, the A-10 Player of the Year for the third consecutive year, lead the Hawks with 18 goals, 11 assists and 47 points.