Princeton F. Hockey plays UNC

The Daily Princetonian PRINCETON, N.J. (U-WIRE) --Women's field hockey is like a fine wine: it gets better with age. Or at least with every game it plays against a top-five opponent. "We played better against Old Dominion than Connecticut, and I think we will rise again to the occasion against North Carolina," senior attack Molly O'Malley said. While it is true that the last two times No. 4 Princeton (12-2 overall, 6-0 Ivy League) faced off against such an opponent -- last weekend against No. 1 Old Dominion and two weeks ago against No. 3 Connecticut -- they have lost, the Tigers have improved. Tomorrow Princeton will get a chance to continue to improve, as the Tigers travel to Old Dominion to face to No. 5 North Carolina (11-4). Against Connecticut, the Tigers' offense hurt them the most. Teamwork has never been a problem. Rather it was individual skills that made Princeton's offense unable to capitalize on the opportunities it had during the contest. Last Sunday against Old Dominion, the Tigers played well. One of the two goals scored against them was questionable, as head coach Beth Bozman even earned a green card disputing the goal. Offensively the Tigers gave themselves scoring chances, fixing the individual skill problems that plagued them against Connecticut. But Princeton still was not able to convert its chances. "We had a couple of chances to convert on corners, and we didn't," O'Malley said. "We got our shots off well, we just missed the tips." "Overall we were pretty happy with how we played against Old Dominion," senior defense AnnMarie Reich said. "A team like that is going to get through once in a while." Princeton has already proved its players have the individual skills indicative of a top-five team. For Saturday's game against North Carolina, it needs to focus on utilizing the scoring opportunities it does get. "In the big games, we really need to convert [on every chance we get] because we have less chances against the big teams," O'Malley said. If Princeton is to win the game this weekend, it needs to work on finishing, putting the ball in the cage after a breakaway or a good drive up the middle. In addition, the offense will have to focus more on pushing up, rather than falling back to help out on defense like it does against top teams. The last three years, North Carolina has ended Princeton season in the NCAA tournament. Each time the Tarheels went on to claim the national title. But North Carolina has never faced the Tigers in the regular season. "I think there is a definite revenge factor in this weekend's game," O'Malley said. National-powerhouse field hockey schools such as North Carolina don't really have rebuilding years, but this season the Tarheels are feeling the effects of losing four All-Americans to graduation. "It is hard to say that North Carolina has a rebuilding year, but if there is one, it is this year," Reich said.

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