No. 2 Northwestern Holds Off Princeton 3-2

Sunday, September 29

Princeton, N.J.

12:00 PM

Princeton University

Northwestern

Beth Yeager works for the ball against Northwestern (photo by Kyle Rodden).

Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC

September 29, 2024 | Field Hockey

Box Score

A Northwestern team that had eight shutouts and had allowed only one goal all season walked off Bedford Field still unbeaten — though with a great appreciation for the performance of the home team.

Princeton doubled up the number of goals No. 2 Northwestern had allowed in its first nine games combined and became the first team this season to have a lead on the Wildcats at any point in a game. In the end, though, it was a three-goal third-quarter explosion that took only 2:14 that doomed the Tigers, who fell 3-2 in a game that felt more like November than September.

The game featured three members of the United States Olympic team from this past summer with Princeton's Beth Yeager and Northwestern's Ashley Sessa and Maddie Zimmer.

Robyn Thompson made 10 saves in goal for Princeton, increasing her total against Northwestern in three games to 32.

Princeton scored first, as Yeager dribbled into the circle and found Lydia Bills, who reversed a shot over Northwestern goalie Annabel Skubisz for her first career goal. The game stayed 1-0 for the remainder of the first half, but that all changed in a blink early in the third.

Not a bad time for your first career goal. Lydia Bills from Beth Yeager, and Princeton is up 1-0 on No. 2 Northwestern. Only the second goal the Wildcats have allowed all year. pic.twitter.com/1x70JYP3z9
— Princeton FH (@TigerFH) September 29, 2024

First, with 2:24 gone in the quarter, Sessa redirected a blast from Lauren Wadas on a penalty corner into the top of the cage, tying it. She then scored on her own rebound off another just over a minute later, and then Olivia Bent-Cole made it 3-1 in that 2:14 span with a long run and a rip into the cage.

Would Princeton go away? Not at all. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Grace Schulze got the ball past Skubisz, and Ella Cashman chopped it into the goal, making it 3-2 with 14 minutes to go. Suddenly a team that had given up only one goal in nine games had given up two more in one game.

And we're not done yet!!! Ella Cashman tucks it in after Grace Schulze plays it towards the goal, and it's 3-2 Northwestern in the fourth. ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/xyFYOtXGUK
— Princeton FH (@TigerFH) September 29, 2024

That, though, would be all the scoring, though Princeton would create a few chances along the way before it ended. Princeton is now 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League as it heads to Cornell (Friday) and Syracuse (Sunday) this coming week.