Yeager Named Ivy Offensive Player Of The Year And Top Rookie; Six Tigers Honored In All

You can now add "award-winning" to "record-setting" to describe Beth Yeager's freshman field hockey season.

A player who came into her freshman field hockey season with lofty expectations due to her place on the U.S. national team, Yeager did not disappoint. Yeager became just the second Ivy League field hockey player to earn either Player of the Year or Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year honors, after another Tiger, Katie Reinprecht, did so in 2008 (the award was split in 2012). She was also a unanimous choice for Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a similarly unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection.

Yeager was not the only Princeton player to be honored by the league's head coaches. Princeton had four other players earn All-Ivy honors, including first-team selections Gabby Andretta, Hannah Davey and Ali McCarthy and second-team selection Sammy Popper. Ophélie Bemelmans was named Academic All-Ivy League.

Yeager set the Princeton freshman record with 16 goals, despite missing the final three games of the year due to injury. She ranked second in Division I in goals per game and third in Division I in points per game while leading the Ivy League in both. She also was one of only four players in Division I to average more than one goal per game, and she twice scored goals in overtime, defeating UConn and Cornell. She was a two-time Ivy Player of the Week, and she was also the Division I Player of the Week earlier in the year.

Gabby Andretta was the rock of the Princeton defense. Often the last line of defense in front of the Tiger goal, Andretta was a consistent force in keeping the ball away from the cage or even from getting into the circle. She is defined by her steadiness in the back, which limits opposing chances and enables Princeton to start to move the ball up the field as well. She is also tireless, having played every minute of every game with the exception of late in a 7-0 win over Boston University.

Hannah Davey earned first-team All-Ivy League honors for the second straight season and has now been an All-Ivy League selection all three years after being a second-team pick as a freshman. Davey selflessly moved to a more defensive position this year, where she excelled in transition, repeatedly turning defense into offense with her charges on the right side of the field. She finished the season with a goal and seven assists and was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for the final week of the season.

Ali McCarthy was a first-team All-Ivy selection for the first time after being a second-team pick in 2019. McCarthy joins her older sister Ryan in earning first-team All-Ivy honors, making the McCarthys the third sisters to be first-team picks, after the Reinprechts (Katie, Julia and Sarah) and Tornettas (Juliana and Sophia). Ali McCarthy finished the season second on the team in assists with eight and third on the team in goals (seven) and points (22). She was also the league Player of the Week after wins over Cornell and Penn State.

Sammy Popper was a second-team All-Ivy pick this season after being a first-team pick in 2019. She finished the year second on the team in goals with nine and points with 23, and the highlight of her year was probably her overtime goal to defeat Penn State.

Ophélie Bemelmans is an economics major from Belgium. In addition to her near-perfect GPA, Bemelmans also led the Tigers in assists with 10, which ranked third in the Ivy League and 14^th in Division I.

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