Field Hockey ends season with loss

She was one away from tying the school record for shutouts in a season. At the field hockey matchup between Penn and Princeton on Friday night, the Tigers' senior goalkeeper, Meg DeJong, reached her goal with a twist; she did not stop the ball once. Penn (8-9 overall, 4-3 Ivy League) took a mere one shot on goal, which missed the cage, and had zero corners in its 4-0 loss to Princeton (15-2, 7-0) which ended the 1998 season. Princeton, on the other hand, dominated the offensive side of the field, taking 22 shots on goal and 17 corners. The Tigers' defense had little to no problems helping DeJong tie the shutout record of 10 set by Susan Kohler in 1981. The quest for DeJong to tie the school record, however, was not the only one the team focused on in Friday night's game. For the last time in the regular season, Princeton's eight seniors played on their home turf with two goals in mind. First, they did not want to ruin their perfect conference record, and second, they did not want to jeopardize their hope for home field advantage in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Determined to reach both senior goals, senior Kristy Hale opened the scoring for the Orange and Black on a penalty corner at 10 minutes and 29 seconds into the first half. Hale assisted the second goal with a perfect pass to cutting Hillary Matson at 27:53. The 17 minute lack of goals scored between the first and second goals was in large part due to Penn's goalkeeper, senior Sarah Dunn. Dunn, facing twenty times the amount of shots on cage that DeJong faced, saved 10 shots. Dunn was able to save so many shots because most of Penn's players focused on playing defense. "When we play a team like Princeton [a team which concentrates on offense], we all have to play defense. With a lot of help from the midfielders, we played team defense. I think defensively we kept up with Princeton," Quakers defender Audrey Heinel said. The defense, led by Heinel, repeatedly tried to stop the incredibly fast and skilled Princeton offense. But Penn's efforts fell short as the unrelenting Tigers continued to shoot on cage. With 28:41 remaining in the first half, a third goal got past Penn's defense as Kate Carroll scored unassisted. Princeton's Kate Fox, assisted by Adrienne Brelsin, scored the fourth and final goal of the game. Although Princeton proved to be on top at the end of the game, Penn players agreed that the Tigers did not match up with the other nationally ranked teams they faced this season. "Penn State University and the University of Maryland controlled the game better. Princeton didn't control the game as much," Penn freshman center back Monique Horshaw said. Horshaw, the sole freshman to play defense in the Princeton game, will have to be ready to play at a higher level next season as two of the four seniors are defenders. "It all sort of hit me. First it was my last practice, then my last home game, and then the last game," Heinel said. "Eyes were filled," Penn coach Val Cloud said. "The reality that [the seniors] are not going to be doing this again hit them." Despite the fact that the seniors ended their careers on a losing note, "[the team] gave it everything they had," Cloud said. Although the Quakers' senior class did not end their career with a 26-0 record in the Ivy League like the Princeton seniors did, Heinel believes that the 1998 class helped build a foundation for future teams to succeed.