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Sunday, November 5
Harvard University
1:00 p.m.
Princeton University
(8-9 (5-2Ivy))
1
vs
2
Harvard
(15-3 (7-0Ivy))
1
2
3
4
F
Princeton
0
0
1
0
1
Harvard
1
0
0
1
2
Gracie McGowan, who made the All-Tournament team, battles in Princeton's 2-1 loss to Harvard.
Photo by: Ivy League
Princeton Falls To Harvard In Ivy Final Heartbreaker
November 05, 2023 | Field Hockey
Carla Tagliente had her team gathered around her. Most were in tears. The ones who weren't managed to either hide it or were internalizing what they all felt.
Princeton had just lost the Ivy League tournament final to Harvard 2-1 in a game that couldn't have been more excruciating. The Tigers had played their hardest and their best this season, and those two things were related.
The only differences between them and the victors were a fraction of an inch and the brutal realization of how quickly, finally and painfully a season can be over.
Harvard's Lara Beekhuis scored with 35.7 seconds remaining on a shot that barely made its way across the Tiger goal line. And by barely, we're talking barely. Inches? Centimeters? Maybe less. The play was reviewed, and the call stood.
And that was that.
"Sometimes," Tagliente said, "sports can break your heart wide open. You should feel it deeply. Otherwise, why do it?"
Princeton's Ottilie Sykes, Gracie McGowan and Ella Cashman were named to the All-Tournament team.
Princeton had lost to Harvard 4-0 at Bedford Field 23 days earlier, but this was not the same group of Tigers. They had played for two weekends knowing that their next loss was their last for 2023 and responded with back-to-back one-goal wins, in the regular season finale against Yale and then in Friday's semifinal against Cornell.
Against Harvard, the Crimson scored first, on a corner midway through the first. Was this going to be a repeat of the earlier game? Hardly.
The Tigers battled and battled, and they finally broke through seven minutes into the third quarter, when Cashman redirected a ball from Sykes off a corner to tie at 1-1. Princeton had the best chance from there, when Sykes' drive off a late corner was steered aside, and then Harvard was able to advance the ball and get the winner.
Princeton played 17 games this season, and 12 of those were decided by a single goal. There were one-goal losses to three of the top five teams in the country, including two in double overtime.
Playing with just 20 players all season, Princeton got by on effort for most of the year. That was never more true than this weekend, when the team came within inches of getting back to the NCAA tournament.
"I'm so proud of this group," Tagliente said. "They've been so much fun to coach. They gave everything they had, and they played their best when it mattered most this weekend."
That, of course, is why it stung so much at the end.
Princeton had just lost the Ivy League tournament final to Harvard 2-1 in a game that couldn't have been more excruciating. The Tigers had played their hardest and their best this season, and those two things were related.
The only differences between them and the victors were a fraction of an inch and the brutal realization of how quickly, finally and painfully a season can be over.
Harvard's Lara Beekhuis scored with 35.7 seconds remaining on a shot that barely made its way across the Tiger goal line. And by barely, we're talking barely. Inches? Centimeters? Maybe less. The play was reviewed, and the call stood.
And that was that.
"Sometimes," Tagliente said, "sports can break your heart wide open. You should feel it deeply. Otherwise, why do it?"
Princeton's Ottilie Sykes, Gracie McGowan and Ella Cashman were named to the All-Tournament team.
Princeton had lost to Harvard 4-0 at Bedford Field 23 days earlier, but this was not the same group of Tigers. They had played for two weekends knowing that their next loss was their last for 2023 and responded with back-to-back one-goal wins, in the regular season finale against Yale and then in Friday's semifinal against Cornell.
Against Harvard, the Crimson scored first, on a corner midway through the first. Was this going to be a repeat of the earlier game? Hardly.
The Tigers battled and battled, and they finally broke through seven minutes into the third quarter, when Cashman redirected a ball from Sykes off a corner to tie at 1-1. Princeton had the best chance from there, when Sykes' drive off a late corner was steered aside, and then Harvard was able to advance the ball and get the winner.
Princeton played 17 games this season, and 12 of those were decided by a single goal. There were one-goal losses to three of the top five teams in the country, including two in double overtime.
Playing with just 20 players all season, Princeton got by on effort for most of the year. That was never more true than this weekend, when the team came within inches of getting back to the NCAA tournament.
"I'm so proud of this group," Tagliente said. "They've been so much fun to coach. They gave everything they had, and they played their best when it mattered most this weekend."
That, of course, is why it stung so much at the end.
Team Stats
PRIN
HARV
Goals
1
2
Shots
7
10
Shots on Goal
5
5
Saves
3
4
Corners
3
4
Offsides
0
0
Fouls
33
40
Scoring Plays
Beekhuis, Lara (8)
Assisted By: Leel, Lucy
GOAL by HARV Beekhuis, Lara (FIRST GOAL), Assist by Leel, Lucy, goal number 8 for season.
7:37
Cashman, Ella
Assisted By: Sykes, Ottilie
GOAL by PRIN Cashman, Ella, Assist by Sykes, Ottilie.
36:41
Beekhuis, Lara (9)
Assisted By: Klas, Smilla
GOAL by HARV Beekhuis, Lara, Assist by Klas, Smilla, goal number 9 for season.
59:25
Game Leaders
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Midfield/Defense
/ Field Hockey
Defense
/ Field HockeyDefense
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