The Columbia field hockey team faced its second consecutive nationally ranked opponent this weekend, and for the second game in a row, the Lions were shut out. Columbia (3-5, 1-2 Ivy) fell 4-0 to No. 7 Princeton (8-1, 3-0 Ivy) on Friday evening.
The Tigers used a balanced effort to take the game, with four players each scoring one goal. The first goal came off the stick of freshman midfielder Julia Reinprecht—sister of last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year Katie Reinprecht. Reinprecht scored off a rebound in the thirteenth minute, giving Princeton a lead it would never relinquish.
Less than two minutes later, Molly Goodman, another freshman midfielder, scored off an assist from freshman striker, Michelle Cesan. A goal by senior striker Christina Bortz 10 minutes later gave the Tigers a 3-0 advantage at the half.
Through Princeton had 12 shots in the second half, the Columbia defense stepped it up and allowed only one goal. Sophomore striker Kathleen Sharkey scored in the 46th minute off a corner with help from Katie Reinprecht.
“At halftime we talked about stepping up even more by looking to intercept and not letting them receive the ball easily on attack,” said head coach Jana Woolley. “We are getting better each week, but still have some work to do in the defensive end.”
Combined with last week’s 6-0 loss to No. 6 Syracuse, the Light Blue have been outshot 52-2 and outscored 10-0 over the last two games. According to Woolley, the Lions’ struggles against these nationally ranked teams are at least partially mental.
“Both Princeton and Syracuse are very talented teams,” Woolley said. “Both are ranked in the top 10 for a reason. We need to be able to handle pressure better in those games. We had chances to create opportunities but didn’t take proper care of the ball when we were on attack. We would lose possession off of our own errors inside our attacking 50 and 25. Against top teams, you have to be able to take care of the ball.”
In the losing effort, Light Blue freshman goalkeeper Christine O’Hara tied her season high with 12 saves. Junior midfielder Julia Garrison had Columbia’s lone shot.
Even though the Lions lost, Woolley remains optimistic and focused on the rest of the season.
“Princeton is a very talented team all over the pitch,” she said. “We competed hard. Our team never gave up. At that level, the speed of play and execution needs to be much quicker. Those games are always good to expose some weaknesses that you can really start to work on in practice and get better at for the second half of the season.”
Columbia will try to end its three-game losing streak against nonconference opponent Lafayette on Wednesday.
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