Sports Shorts

After a 2–4 start that included a loss at Dartmouth, FIELD HOCKEY turned around its season with eight wins in the next 11 games, earning the program’s seventh straight Ivy League title and a trip to the 16-team NCAA Championships. The Tigers lost to fifth-seeded Connecticut in the first round Nov. 12.

Playing without four All-Ivy standouts who have taken leave to compete for spots on the U.S. Olympic team, Princeton relied heavily on its younger players. The top four scorers included two freshmen, Allison Evans and Sydney Kirby, and two sophomores, Amanda Bird and Kelsey Byrne.

Coach Kristen Holmes-Winn said that she did not know what to expect this year, but from the beginning, her team believed it could maintain its championship tradition. “In the beginning of the season, we talked about ‘authentic belief’ — not just believing blindly, but putting in the work that was actually going to allow us to have true belief,” she said. “I think that’s what you saw.”

MEN’S WATER POLO lost 10–5 to Navy in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Championship final Nov. 6. The Tigers closed the lead to one goal, 6–5, early in the third period, but the Midshipmen responded with four unanswered goals. The second-place finish earned Princeton a spot in the Eastern Championships Nov. 18–20.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL dropped a 3–1 match to Yale Nov. 5, allowing the Bulldogs to clinch their third Ivy title in four years. Princeton bounced back with wins over Cornell and Columbia Nov. 11 and 12 to earn second place in the league.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY standouts Alex Banfich ’12 and Alexis Mikaelian ’13 received at-large bids to the NCAA Championships following strong finishes at the Mid-Atlantic Regional meet Nov. 12. The Tigers placed fifth in the region and finished third at the Ivy Heptagonal Championships Oct. 29.

At the Binghamton Open, WRESTLING’s opening tournament, Garrett Frey ’13 finished third in the 125-pound division, leading a group of six Tigers who placed sixth or better in their weight classes.