HEADING TO GOAL: Princeton University field hockey player Beth Yeager dribbles the ball into the circle in a game earlier this season. Last Friday, senior star Yeager tallied a goal to help No. 6 Princeton defeat Cornell 4-0 as it moved to 4-1 in Ivy League play. The Tigers, who got two goals and an assist from Yeager in a 5-1 win over No. 13 Monmouth on Sunday in improving to 10-3 overall, host Brown on October 24 and Penn State on October 26. Yeager was later named the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Beth Yeager and her teammates on the Princeton University field hockey team were undaunted by the challenge of playing at No. 1 and undefeated Northwestern earlier this month.
“We came out very eager to play, Northwestern is obviously a fantastic team,” said Yeager of the October 13 contest. “We really thrived on that opportunity, getting to play the No. 1 team in the country and the speed and skill that they play with. We are all competitors and I think we really rise to the occasion. Instead of fearing that, we really thrived under that pressure.”
Senior star midfielder and co-captain Yeager scored a goal in the contest to help the then-No. 8 Tigers upset the Wildcats 3-2.
As PU hosted Cornell last Friday in resuming Ivy League action, it looked to build on that performance.
“We just have some more consistent belief in ourselves,” said Yeager, a 5’7 native of Greenwich, Conn. “Where what you saw in the beginning of the season, it kind of went through waves. Now it is very consistent and level-headed with conviction and belief in what we can do.”
The No. 6 Tigers displayed that consistency, rolling to a comprehensive 4-0 win over the Big Red. Yeager got things going as she scored a goal 2:46 into the contest on a feed from Ottilie Sykes.
“Ott made a great pass to me, it wasn’t necessarily the plan to begin with,” said Yeager. “I think we are doing a good job of making things work. I think it also goes back to and speaks to the belief we are having in ourselves. It doesn’t need to be pretty, we can still get it done.”
The goals kept coming as Caitlin Thompson, Anna Faulstich, and Pru Lindsey each found the back of the cage for Princeton.
“Everything is coming together for us as a team,” said Yeager. “We have a bunch of different scorers every single game. We are scoring in a lot of different ways which is great to see.”
As Yeager heads into the final weeks of her Tiger career, she is living in the moment.
“I try not to think about it too much, I love Princeton field hockey and I have loved all of my years here,” said Yeager, who tallied two goals and an assist in a 5-1 win over No. 13 Monmouth last Sunday and was later named the Ivy Offensive Player of the Week. “I think for me it is just about focusing on each game, soaking in the moment and having fun while I still can.”
Yeager, a member of the U.S. senior national team who played in the Paris 2024 Olympics, is looking to stay in the game after graduation from Princeton.
“I have learned a lot more as a field hockey player, tactically and technically,” said Yeager, who is hoping to compete for the U.S. in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. “It has been fun to get to play as much as I can. I have the gift of being able to play a lot during the summer and during breaks that a lot of other people in the collegiate system don’t have. I am fortunate for that too. I am trying to play as many field hockey games as I can. I just want to play as long as I can.”
Princeton head coach Carla Tagliente was thrilled by the way her team played in the win over Northwestern.
“It was huge, it was an electric game; I think it is something these guys will remember forever,” said Tagliente. “Going into it sometimes it is about how you match up with a team. I don’t think a lot of teams match up with them. They are very physical, they are very fast and they are very vertical in their play. I thought we matched up just fine. We are strong defensively, we have a solid core midfield. We really executed and went right at it. It was a big confidence booster for them. To play on that stage and feel that level is important for them.”
It was important for the Tigers to keep it going against the Big Red.
“Cornell is a tough team to play in that they won’t go away,” said Tagliente. “I thought our kids really did great. It helped that we built a cushion early. If we don’t have that three-goal cushion, those corners are stressful. I think we played a real great game.”
Tagliente credited Yeager with making a great impact all over the field for Princeton.
“It is hard to really quantify what her and Cash (Ella Cashman) are doing defensively and in our outlet and build out,” said Tagliente of Yeager, who leads the Tigers in scoring with nine goals and seven assists. “They really set the tone for everything. There aren’t as much numbers but at this point, I think she is beyond that. She wants to win games and it doesn’t matter what it looks like. The byproduct of that is that she picks up a goal here or there and that’s great. Otherwise the focus for her is just moving this forward day-by-day.”
Princeton has been moving forward at the offensive end. “It has been good for five, six games now we have just continued to progress,” said Tagliente. “We have really drilled on them about specifics and they had to take it on the chin a little in video and film. They recognized that they needed to bump it up and they have in the last few games. We have had players stepping up on field goals and corners. They are just trying to make it better. They are starting to believe in themselves, and that is great. We are starting to connect everything up.”
The Tiger defense has been a constant, spearheaded by the back line trio of junior Sykes, sophomore Clem Houlden, and freshman Gabby Anderson.
“It is solid. At this point, all three of them, they are tough kids,” said Tagliente. “They can tackle and defend and that really was the difference with Northwestern. A lot of teams don’t have the level defensively that we have. They are next level defenders.”
In goal, junior Olivia Caponiti has emerged as a star. “She is doing great, her confidence is high and she is having fun,” said Tagliente of Caponiti, who was later named the Ivy Defensive Player of the Week. “She made some big saves in that Northwestern game. She was great tonight. When you get into the zone and you have that confidence, it is just different.”
In Tagliente’s view, the win over Northwestern has the team in a zone collectively.
“Coming out of Northwestern the talk was to stop the roller coaster with the level of play and set the standard,” said Tagliente.“When we left the Northwestern game, we said this is the standard. There is no reason for you to be playing down with some of these teams so that is the focus. A lot factors into that. It is not just a mentality. Training was good this week. You always do worry that you are going to have a little bit of a hangover from a big win. I was proud of these guys.”
The Tiger players are apparently on board with that approach.
“I went into the team room before the game and there was so much stuff written on the board,” said Tagliente. “I go, What is this?’ Dina (associate head coach Dina Rizzo) was like, ‘They had a team meeting yesterday. They recentered themselves with focus points.’ I just thought that was really mature of them to recenter. It was a big moment, but that could also be a bad loss on your next one. For them to draw a line in the sand and step forward was good.”
In Yeager’s view, Princeton has the potential to do some really good things as it heads into postseason action this November.
“I think we are growing as each game comes,” said Yeager. “We had some really good wins and good performances in the beginning of the season. Against UNC we almost came away with a win (a 3-2 loss on September 7). We are starting to really build on that. Postseason is looking very exciting.”