No. 10 Princeton Tops No. 15 Harvard 4-2 In Huge Ivy Showdown

Sunday, October 23

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

(11-4, 5-0Ivy)

Harvard

(11-4, 4-1Ivy)

Harvard

Princeton

Beth Yeager celebrates her goal in Princeton's 4-2 win over Harvard.

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

No. 10 Princeton Tops No. 15 Harvard 4-2 In Huge Ivy Showdown

October 23, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score

For the past 52 weeks, every time a Princeton field hockey lifted a weight or did a sprint or practiced shooting, she had to, at least in part, be looking ahead to Oct. 23.

A year ago, it was Harvard who denied Princeton an Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament spot by a razor-thin margin in penalty shots. For every day since, Princeton knew that achieving those goals this time around would in all likelihood have to go through Harvard. And all of that motivation came pouring out in a perfect first eight minutes.

Princeton scored three times in those first eight minutes and never trailed, pushing through some tense moments in the second half to knock off the Crimson 4-2 in front of a large and vocal crowd on Bedford Field. The victory, which came against teams who were both 4-0 in the league and 56-0 against the other six league opponents in the last five seasons, puts Princeton in the driver's seat for a 27^th Ivy League championship.

To get there, Princeton needs to win one of its last two, either at home next Sunday against Brown or at Columbia the following Saturday. Princeton would also clinch the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid with a win in either game.

A year after goals were scarce between the Tigers and Crimson, Princeton exploded out of the gate, scoring three times in the first 8:10. It started five minutes into the game when Hannah Davey sent a perfect 50-yard pass to Grace Schulze, who had gotten open behind the defense, and Schulze squeezed it past Crimson All-American goalie Ellie Shahbo, who had shut Princeton out in the penalty shootout a year ago in Cambridge after the teams had played a 1-1 tie after 80 minutes.

Is this a good pass from Hannah Davey to Grace Schulze? pic.twitter.com/P2925s25TH
— Princeton FH (@TigerFH) October 23, 2022

Beth Yeager ripped in her 11^th of the year less than two minutes later, when she connected off a penalty corner that began with an insert from Ali McCarthy and a spot by Ophelie Bemelmans. Less than two minutes after that, Princeton drew a penalty shot, and Sam Davidson made it 6 for 6 on the year and 8 for 8 for her career when she cashed it in.

Shockingly, it was 3-0 Tigers. It could have been 5-0, but Yeager hit the post on another corner and Davey and Schulze just missed connecting again along the end line.

Would Harvard go quietly? Hardly. The Crimson scored once the second quarter and then again early in the third, and suddenly it was a 3-2 game with all the momentum in favor of the visitors.

Sammy Popper ended it with an insurance goal on a reverse blast with 12 minutes left, on a play that started when Davey dribbled into the circle and found Popper.

Sammy Popper with the reverse drive and the Tigers are back up by 2. pic.twitter.com/do1Z1Hf8z3
— Princeton FH (@TigerFH) October 23, 2022

When the clock reached all zeroes, Princeton raced out onto the field to celebrate. It wasn't a championship, not yet, but it was a game that set the Tigers up for one, and erased the memories of 52 weeks ago.