No. 13 Princeton Hosts No. 18 Duke Saturday

Saturday, September 11

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Duke

Sammy Popper and the Tigers host Duke (Saturday, noon).

Photo by: Brian Westerholt

September 10, 2021 | Field Hockey

Princeton vs. Duke

No. 13 Princeton (0-2) vs. No. 18 Duke (1-3)
Bedford Field at Class of 1952 Stadium • Princeton, N.J.
Sept. 11, 2021 • noon • ESPN+
Series history • Princeton leads 7-5
Most recent meeting • Princeton defeated Duke 5-4 (Oct. 6, 2019)

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Duke Website

A pair of teams who have opened with brutal schedules meet at Bedford Field. To the winner will go a win over a fellow ranked team and some momentum to take as they both continue to navigate weekly meetings against the best teams in the country.

As an added sub-plot, this is also a Homecoming Day of sorts.

Princeton vs. Duke
Five Storylines

Strength of Schedule
Neither Princeton nor Duke has shied away from being challenged right out of the gate, which should come as no surprise as it is something both teams do annually. To date this year, the teams have played six games between them, and they've already played the teams ranked fourth (Princeton vs. North Carolina), fifth (Duke vs. Northwestern), sixth (Princeton vs. Louisville) and seventh (Duke vs. Maryland).

After this game, Princeton still has games remaining against that same Maryland team, as well as No. 9 Penn State, No. 12 UConn, No. 15 Harvard, No. 19 Delaware and No. 22 Monmouth.

Welcome Home
The Duke team that comes to Bedford Field features two very, very familiar faces who will be forgiven if their first instinct is to head to the home team room instead of the visiting one. Princeton alums MaryKate Neff and Grace Brightbill are doing post-graduate years for the Blue Devils.

Neff started 59 of the 60 games she played for Princeton and had 41 career points on 17 goals and seven assists. She was a three-time All-Ivy League selection and a two-time All-Region selection. Neff assisted on the lone Duke goal in the 1-0 win over Richmond. Brightbill, a goalie, played in eight career games as a Tiger. She played 30 minutes against Maryland for the Blue Devils, with one goal against and four saves.

Fast Start
Freshman Beth Yeager, who is already on the full U.S. national team, is off to a lightning-fast start in her Princeton career. It was Yeager who set up the Tigers' goal in the opener against North Carolina, and then she scored both Princeton goals in the 3-2 OT loss to Louisville.

Yeager's high school resume includes being a first-team All-American and a National Merit Scholar finalist and Sacred Heart Academy in Greenwich, Conn.

In Goal
Robyn Thompson has played every minute in goal so far for Princeton this season. In doing so, she has replaced the graduated Grace Baylis as the Tiger starter.

How far back do you have to go to find someone besides Baylis who was a starter for Princeton? How about all the way to 2015. Before Thompson started against North Carolina, Baylis had been the starting goalie in 80 straight games, for the entire seasons of 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Before Baylis, Princeton's starter was Anya Gersoff.

Aw Shoot
Princeton opened its season by playing half of the most recent Final Four – North Carolina (the three-time defending champ) and Louisville (who lost to Michigan in the semifinals last spring). Despite dropping both games, Princeton still has outshot its opponents 14.5-13.5 per game.