F. Hockey falls to Tigers

Cloud called Princeton the best Ivy team ever. It was not a pretty ending to the Penn field hockey team's season, but it also was not unexpected. The overmatched Quakers (7-10, 3-3 Ivy League) were easily disposed of at Princeton's Class of 1952 Stadium by the No. 17 Tigers on Thursday night. "Realistically, it would have taken a miracle to beat them," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "I think we were capable of playing better, but Princeton overwhelmed us with their speed and physical ability." The Tigers (14-3) finished the season 6-0 in the Ivy League after shutting out Penn, 5-0. This was their third consecutive undefeated season in the conference, as they extended their Ivy win streak to 18 games. Princeton's last loss came against the Quakers at the end of the 1993 season, a game only one current players can remember. As the team's lone senior, co-captain Curran Kelly was the only remaining member of that Penn team. Princeton dominated the game from start to finish, scoring three times in the first half and twice in the second. The Tigers' first goal came from sophomore Kirsty Hale just over 11 minutes into the contest. The goal was her 19th of the season. Hale tied Lisa Rebane's Princeton record for most goals in a season. Hale also assisted on a goal, giving her 55 points overall on the season. The Tigers cruised through the rest of the game, as Princeton's Ann Marie Reich scored with just two minutes to play in the first half for the third goal. Reich added another score with 17 minutes left to play in the game. "It was disappointing that we didn't play as well as we did in the past," Kelly said. "They were a really good team. They magnified all of our weaknesses." Although the loss was predictable, it was not expected that Princeton would dominate so easily. But the Quakers were unable to handle the Princeton offense and could not get their own going. They were out-shot 32-6, and Princeton had 19 corners to the Quakers' two. "They deserve to be Ivy champs," Cloud said. "They're the most dominant Ivy team ever." Now that the season is over, the Quakers will look to next year and on improving their inconsistent play. The good news is that Kelly is the only player that Penn will lose. The bad news is that she was a captain and team leader on and off the field. "It's been a great season," Kelly said. "We've improved a lot, and I couldn't ask for anything more, but I was sad at the end of the game." Next year, as most of the players return, the Penn field hockey team will be looking to improve on the good points from this season and strive for the consistency of play that was sometimes lacking this season. "It's going to be a fresh new season," Cloud said.