Princeton Falls To Harvard, Still In Hunt For Ivy Tournament

The Ivy League tournament has arrived in the perfect year for the Princeton field hockey team. In most years, the winner of the regular-season game between Princeton and Harvard would end up with the Ivy League's automatic NCAA tournament bid. Starting this year, that goes to the winner of the league tournament.

Harvard scored twice in the second quarter to take control of the game and twice more in the fourth quarter to seal it a 4-0 win over Princeton at rainy Bedford Field Saturday afternoon. Is that it for the Tigers' NCAA tournament hopes? Not if they can make their way into the Ivy tournament, which will be in three weeks.

Harvard, now 5-0 in the league, and 4-1 Penn and Cornell have all clinched spots in the tournament. Princeton, at 3-2, still has work to do to get that fourth spot, which figures to come down to the winner of the game between the Tigers and Yale on the final Friday of the regular season. But still — the chance is there.

As for the game itself, Harvard scored a pair of goals seven minutes apart in the second quarter to make it 2-0 at the break. The Tigers came out stronger in the third quarter, drawing a penalty corner and controlling much of the possession, but they still were unable to break through. Harvard then built the lead to 3-0 after a goal on a tip in off a penalty corner early in the fourth and then tacked on another one in the final two minutes.

Princeton is at Dartmouth this coming Saturday and Yale a week from Friday. Yale is now 2-3 in the league with a game this coming weekend against Columbia.

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