Princeton Hosts Harvard In First Place Ivy Showdown

Sunday, October 23

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Harvard

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Princeton Hosts Harvard In First Place Ivy Showdown

October 21, 2022 | Field Hockey

While it hasn't always been easy, this is the game Princeton and Harvard figured they'd play once late October rolled around. For the fifth straight year, these two meet when both are unbeaten in the Ivy League.

Princeton vs. Harvard
Five storylines

Recent history
Princeton and Harvard are both 4-0 in the Ivy League, just as they have been every time they've met since 2017. The winner of the last four Princeton-Harvard games has finished the Ivy season 7-0; the loser has finished 6-1.

In other words, Princeton and Harvard are a combined 56-0 against the rest of the league since the start of the 2017 season.

The 2021 Princeton-Harvard game was the closest of all of them. Harvard defeated Princeton 2-1 in a shootout last season in a game that determined the league champion and NCAA tournament automatic bid.

The Ivy race
Princeton and Harvard are a combined 8-0 in the Ivy League this year, and five of those wins have been by one goal. Every other team in the league has at least two Ivy losses.

The winner of the Princeton-Harvard game will improve to 5-0 and would clinch the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid with one win in its last two games (Princeton plays home against Brown and at Columbia; Harvard is home against Cornell and at Brown). The winner would also clinch at least a share of the Ivy title with one more win and an outright title with two more wins.

Something in common
Princeton and Harvard have four non-league opponents in common. The Tigers defeated Maryland 4-3 in overtime, defeated UConn 4-2, defeated Delaware 3-1 and defeated Monmouth 6-1. Harvard lost to Maryland 2-1, lost to UConn 2-0, defeated Delaware 2-1 and defeated Monmouth 1-0 in two overtimes.

Rankings
Princeton was ranked eighth last week in the NFHCA poll and then dropped two spots to No. 10 after defeating Cornell 2-1. Harvard enters the game ranked 15^th by the NFDHCA.

The Tigers are No. 8 in the RPI, while Harvard is No. 16. Princeton has wins over No. 2 Maryland, No. 11 Syracuse, No. 13 UConn and No. 20 Rutgers. Of Princeton's four losses, three have come by one goal to teams ranked No. 1 (North Carolina), No. 3 (Northwestern) and No. 5 (Louisville).

Statistically speaking
Princeton is the No. 1 scoring offense team in the Ivy League at 3.06 goals per game, which also ranks 10^th in Division I. Harvard is third in the league, at 1.93 goals per game. Harvard and Princeton are 1-2 in the league in scoring defense, and Harvard's 0.93 goals against per game ranks third in Division I.

Princeton and Harvard are 1-2 in the league in shots and penalty corners.

Miscellaneous
Ophelie Bemelmans leads the Ivy League and is eighth in Division I in assists per game; she has 10 in 13 games … Beth Yeager's 10 goals are tied for the Ivy League lead with Brown's Lexi Pelligrino; Yeager leads the league in points with 27 (she also has seven assists, which are sixth in the league) … Princeton leads Division I in penalty corners per game with 9.21 … Ella Thorburn made her first career start last week against Cornell in a 3-1 win in which she made three big first-half saves after allowing an early goal … Princeton's goalies Robyn Thompson and Ella Thorburn have a combined .753 save percentage, the best in the league … Princeton has scored five or more goals three times this season; no other Ivy team has done so even once … Grace Schulze is the only player in the league with at least five points in an Ivy game this season (she had two goals and one assist against Yale) … Sam Davidson is 5 for 5 on penalty strokes this season and 7 for 7 in her career.