No. 8 Princeton Opens 2017 Against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 3 Delaware

Friday, September 1

Princeton, N.J.

4:00 PM

Princeton University

North Carolina

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

No. 8 Princeton Opens 2017 Against No. 1 North Carolina and No. 3 Delaware

August 30, 2017 | Field Hockey

Week 1 Game Notes: No. 1 North Carolina/No. 3 Delaware
Gametimes	Friday, Sept. 1 - 4 p.m. l Bedford Field
	Sunday, Sept. 3 - 1:30 p.m. l Fred P. Rullo Jr. Stadium
Game Coverage	North Carolina: Live Stats / Ivy League Network Delaware: Live Stats / Blue Hen Access (Free)
Twitter	@PUTigers l @GoHeels l @UDBlueHens
All-Time Series	UNC leads Princeton, 7-3 l Delaware leads Princeton, 14-13-2
Last Meeting	Sept. 2, 2016 - No. 1 North Carolina 2, Princeton 1 (Recap)
	Nov. 18, 2016 - No. 8 Delaware 3, Princeton 2 (Recap)
No. 8 Princeton	Roster l Schedule l 2016 Stats l @TigerFH
No. 1 North Carolina	Roster l Schedule l @UNCFieldHockey
No. 3 Delaware	Roster l Schedule l Stats l@DelawareFH
Related Links	Penn Montco/NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll

PRINCETON, N.J. – The 2017 season gets underway for Princeton field hockey on Friday as the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels come to town. The contest will get underway at 4 p.m. and will be streamed on the Ivy League Network.

Princeton also heads down to No. 3 Delaware on Sunday. The game will start at 1:30 p.m. and features free live streaming on Blue Hens Access.

The Year That Was:

The Tigers went 12-8 in 2016 and reached the NCAA Tournament for the ninth straight season, receiving the program's first at-large bid to the tournament.
Princeton used a three-point outing from Cat Caro '17 and six-save performance from Grace Baylis to advance to the national quarterfinals for the second straight season with a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Penn State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
One of the greatest moments in program history, Sophia Tornetta laced a laced a shot into the back of the cage as time expired to send the Tigers to the Final Four for the first time since 2012 with a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Virginia.
No. 8 Delaware ended Princeton's season in the national semifinals as Esmee Peet scored the game-winner with 1:30 remaining, giving the Blue Hens a 3-2 decision. Delaware would go on to win the national championship.
The Tigers had five players selected to the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association (NFHCA) Mid-Atlantic All-Region teams. Caro and Ryan McCarthy were picked for the all-region first team while Maddie Bacskai, Tornetta and Elise Wong were honored with second team accolades.
Caro topped off her fabulous senior season with a Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches' Association Division I All-America First Team accolade. She had a personal-high 18 goals and 47 points. She registered a point in 15 of the team's 19 games and finished the season eighth in the country in goals (.95) and 13th in points per game (2.26).

Taking On All Challenges:

The Tigers battle nine 2016 NCAA Tournament teams along with the other three squads from the Final Four on its 2017 schedule.
Tagliente's squad faces nine teams ranked inside the preseason top 25, including the top seven teams. Princeton came in at No. 8.
Five of the team's first six games come against ranked teams. The first weekend for Princeton without a top 25 opponent comes Oct. 14-15 when it travels to Brown and Northeastern.
North Carolina (Sept. 1), No. 7 Penn State (Sept. 10) and No. 4 UConn (Oct. 8) come to Bedford Field.

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 Cat Caro '17 and Ryan McCarthy were selected to the development team. Princeton's four representatives on the U-21 team are the most in the country.

Top Returning Players

Ryan McCarthy had a breakout 2016 with a career-high 14 goals and 33 points for the Tigers. In her two seasons prior, the junior had 12 goals combined. McCarthy collected points in the team's first four games and three of its last four contests while completing the season with three multi-goal outings.
Sophia Tornetta's 2016 campaign wrapped up with nine goals and 10 assists in 13 contests. Her 2.15 points per game would have been 18th in the country if she qualified. The sophomore scored a goal in eight outings and secured a point in every game except for two.
Maddie Bacskai and Elise Wong were vital cogs for Princeton's defensive unit in 2016. The Tigers ranked inside the top-20 nationally in goals-against-average (17th, 1.61) and posted four shutouts. Princeton's defense was fantastic in Ivy League play, allowing just 3.9 shots per game and eight goals total. Bacskai added two goals and three assists while Wong had seven helpers for the Tigers.
Returning from a two-year absence, Annabeth Donovan-Davis was a second-team All-Ivy and NFHCA All-Region selection in 2014 and was the 2013 Ivy League Co-Rookie of the Year.

Series History: North Carolina:

The Tigers are 3-7 all-time against North Carolina.
The Tar Heels took the inaugural meeting back in 1992, 3-1.
Dropping each of the first four match-ups against UNC and getting outscored in those contests, 16-4, Princeton earned its first win over the Tar Heels on Oct. 31, 1998, 4-3 (ot).
Princeton and North Carolina have each taken three contests over the last six meetings with the Tigers taking the most important match, the 2012 NCAA Championship game, 3-2.

Scouting North Carolina:

The Tar Heels are 1-1 on the season, falling to No. 11 Michigan, 3-2, but earning a 3-0 decision over No. 17 Iowa last week.
Juniors Ashley Hoffman and Eva van't Hoog were selected to preseason All-ACC team while the North Carolina was selected as the conference's preseason favorite.
The Tar Heels recorded 14 first-place votes in the Penn Montco/NFHCA Division I preseason poll, en route to 1,137 points, just in front of No. 2 Duke (1,081 points).
The rest of the top 10 features three more ACC schools while two more are among the top 15.

Last Meeting: North Carolina – September 2nd, 2016

Trailing 2-0, Ryan McCarthy found some open space and drilled one past North Carolina goalie Alex Halpin with 1:27 to go, cutting the Tigers' deficit in half.
With Princeton on the offensive break, North Carolina's Ashley Hoffman was given a green card setting up one final corner opportunity for the home team as time expired. With the goalie pulled, Carlotta von Gierke found Maddie Bacskai, who blasted a shot high, but Halpin made the save to secure the Tar Heels' victory.

Series History: Delaware Blue Hens

Delaware leads the series, 14-13-3.
Princeton went winless in the first 12 meetings vs. Delaware (0-10-2).
The Tigers' first victory over the Blue Hens was a 2-1 decision in the 1992 season.
Princeton won nine straight over the Blue Hens from 1994-2002.

Last Meeting: Delaware – November 18th, 2016

Esmee Peet's second goal of the game with 1:30 remaining gave Delaware a 3-2 victory over Princeton in the NCAA National Semifinal contest at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex in Norfolk, Va.
The Blue Hens got on the scoreboard in the 15th minute as Peet's shot off a corner hit a Princeton defender and trickled by Grace Baylis.
Princeton quickly found the equalizer on the next trip down the field. After Cat Caro '16 pushed the ball into the circle, Sophia Tornetta sent a shot that was going wide, but Ryan McCarthy, by herself on the other side, tapped it in to make it 1-all.
Delaware was awarded four penalty corners in the first 12 minutes of the second stanza, but the Princeton defense stood tall, blocking four shots. On the Blue Hens' fifth corner, Kiki Bink redirected a shot in by Greta Nauck to put them ahead 2-1.
Looking for an opportunity for the game-tying goal, the Tigers got one more corner with 3:53 to go. Like she has many times before, Caro gave her team a boost as she swept the insert by Delaware's goalkeeper.

Scouting Delaware Blue Hens:

No. 3 Delaware is 1-1 on the season, defeating Indiana, 7-0, but dropping a 3-1 meeting vs. No. 9 Louisville last week.
Taylor Lister leads the team with six points (two goals, two assists) while Greta Nauck is right behind her with a goal and two assists (four points).
The Blue Hens return seven starters from last year's team that won the National Championship, the first in program history.
Nauck is team's top scorer returning as she posted 33 goals, 10 assists, finishing with 76 points, the best in the NCAA.