Thompson, Princeton Complete Big Weekend With 4-1 Win Over No. 15 Rutgers

Sunday, September 11

Piscataway, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

(2-2)

Rutgers

(3-3)

PRIN

Robyn Thompson makes one of her eight saves in Princeton's 4-1 win over Rutgers (photo by Frank Wojciechowski).

Photo by: Frank Wojciechowski

Thompson, Princeton Complete Big Weekend With 4-1 Win Over No. 15 Rutgers

September 11, 2022 | Field Hockey

Box Score

Last Sunday night, the Princeton field hockey team waited in the Raleigh-Durham airport for the short flight home after opening the season with two one-goal losses to teams in the top five of this week's rankings.

Seven days later, that same Princeton team gathered around the postgame tailgate outside the Rutgers Athletic Center before the short bus ride back to Princeton after having completed a weekend with two dominant wins over top 15 teams. Or was it the same team?

Princeton once again got a dominant performance from goalie Robyn Thompson and a balanced offensive attack to knock off No. 15 Rutgers on a rainy afternoon in Piscataway. The win followed a 5-1 win in Princeton Friday afternoon over No. 7 Syracuse. Princeton, who dropped from 13 to 17 after those two one-goal losses to start the year last weekend, figures to make a nice jump this week.

The script in the two games was very familiar.

Thompson had the same stats against Rutgers as she did against Syracuse Friday, with eight saves to go with one goal allowed. In this case, the Rutgers goal came with 1:10 to play, after the Tigers had led 2-0 at the half and then doubled it in the second. Prior to this weekend, Thompson's career high in saves had been seven.

In front of her, Princeton got four goals from four different players, after getting five goals from five players against the Orange. Princeton played 20 players after playing 22 Friday.

After a scoreless first quarter, Princeton got on the board two minutes into the second. The play started when freshman Helena Große controlled the ball near the right sideline and was able to play it ahead to Grace Schulze, who brought it into the circle and flipped it to Sammy Popper, whose reverse blast cracked off the back of the cage.

It took five minutes to make it a two-goal game, when Claire Donovan tapped in a rebound after a Rutgers save. Thompson made two big saves in the final minute of the half, and it was 2-0 at the break.

It became a 3-0 game midway through the third, when defender Autumn Brown, playing up on a corner, tipped in a drive from Beth Yeager for the first of her career. Yeager scored the last Princeton goal on a fourth-quarter corner of her own.

Defense to offense. How about Autumn Brown with her first career goal? It's 3-0 Princeton at the end of the third. pic.twitter.com/r0oMi5aUpb
— Princeton FH (@TigerFH) September 11, 2022

Princeton leads the all-time series with Rutgers 23-6-1, though the Scarlet Knights had won the last three meetings. Rutgers was the No. 1 overall seed in last year's NCAA tournament.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for the Tigers, who are home for five straight, beginning with Delaware Friday and then No. 1 Northwestern Sunday and No. 3 Maryland a week from Tuesday.