Davey To Donovan Gives Princeton A 3-2 Win Over Delaware

Friday, September 17

Newark, Del.

6:00 PM

Princeton University

(1-3)

#19 Delaware

(2-5)

PRIN

Delaware

Princeton celebrates its 3-2 win over Delaware Friday night.

Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC

Davey To Donovan Gives Princeton A 3-2 Win Over Delaware

September 17, 2021 | Field Hockey

Box Score

If Hannah Davey had only stopped the Delaware field hockey counter, it still would have been a huge play. The Blue Hens had taken the lead on such a play one quarter eariler, and now, late in the fourth quarter, every opportunity was the potential difference.

So yes, Davey's play was big. Then she made it even bigger.

Davey took the ball that she had stopped from going the other way and raced with it down the right sideline, accelerating as she went and passing Blue Hens with every step. Eventually she got it into the circle and rifled it across the crease, where Claire Donovan was waiting on the far post to tap it in for the game-winner with 6:21 to play. Final score: No 18 Princeton 3, No. 22 Delaware 2.

It was a huge win for the Tigers, who had started the year 0-3 with three frustrating losses that all could have gone either way. The fact that they were all against
highly ranked ACC teams didn't make it sting any less. The game against Delaware looked like it might be following a similar path – outshoot the opponent, in this case 13-3, but fall just short – when the Blue Hens went ahead 2-1 on a counter midway through the third quarter.

Princeton had scored the first goal of the night when Sammy Popper reversed one into the cage on an assist by Grace Schultze with 4:10 to go in the first quarter, before Delaware tied it on a penalty corner 3:32 before intermission. The Tigers dominated the first six-plus minutes of the third quarter before that Delaware counter, and suddenly it was 2-1 Blue Hens, which left Princeton with a momentary "not again" feeling.

Actually, that feeling would last a full seven minutes. That's when Beth Yeager did what she can do so well, which is to dribble through traffic, create space for herself and then finish. This time, it tied things up with 1:15 left in the third quarter, and the cloud lifted over the heads of the Tigers. For Yeager, by the way, it was her team-best third goal of the early season, and she now has one on a penalty stroke, one off a corner and one in the run of play.

There would only be one fourth quarter shot, and that was the one Donovan used to score the winner. It was the first of the season and fourth of the career for Donovan, and it came against her high school teammate, Delaware goalie Lizzie Gaebel.

With this win in the bank, Princeton now hosts Boston University Sunday at 1 before heading to Maryland Tuesday for a 4 pm game.