NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In the midst of one of the toughest stretches of the schedule, the Yale field hockey team got  thrown a curveball by Mother Nature. What was initially scheduled to be a day trip to No. 20 Princeton for a game Friday night turned into an overnight trip unexpectedly, as torrential rain Friday rendered the field unplayable and the game was postponed until Saturday morning. The Bulldogs adjusted and put up a tough battle against the Tigers -- the second of four nationally ranked teams they face in a span of less than a month. For nearly 60 minutes of play Yale was within striking distance, trailing 2-0. But after two late Princeton goals, the Tigers came away with a 4-0 win.

"The team had a lot thrown at it, coming down for a 6:00 p.m. game Friday and then having to stay for an overnight that was unexpected," said Pam Stuper, Yale's Caroline Ruth Thompson '02 Head Coach of Field Hockey. "The team did a good job of handling the uncontrollables."

Two backs who had been sidelined recently -- junior Steffi Katz and senior Noelle Villa -- returned to action Saturday and made an immediate difference defensively. The Bulldogs held Princeton's potent offense scoreless for the first half of the first half, but when the Tigers struck with the game's first goal they were able to follow it up with a second one quickly. First, striker Ryan McCarthy lofted in the rebound of a shot on a penalty corner to put Princeton up 1-0 at 17:40. Slightly more than a minute later, striker Maddie Copeland -- the team's leading scorer -- extended the lead to two with her seventh goal of the season.

Yale continued to keep Princeton at bay the second half got underway, and after getting six penalty corners in the first the Tigers got only one in the second -- with 15 minutes to play. Sophomore midfielder/forward Katie Smith deflected away the shot attempt on that one.

Princeton (4-4, 2-0 Ivy League) had a golden chance to extend the lead to 3-0 when a wide-open McCarthy snared a loose ball right in front of the goal with 13:30 left in the game. But junior goalkeeper Emilie Katz reacted quickly to get her body in front of the shot, smothering it for one of her 12 saves.

With 10:10 to play, Copeland scored her eighth goal of the season -- all in the last four games -- with an impressive reverse chip. The Tigers then tacked on a final goal with 45 seconds left when McCarthy tapped one in at the goal line.

Only three teams, all nationally ranked (No. 8 Maryland, No. 3 North Carolina and No. 4 Virginia) have held Princeton to fewer than four goals this season. The Tigers had racked up seven goals in their first league game, a 7-3 win at Dartmouth last Sunday.

"Emilie Katz played a really good game," said Stuper. "Defensively, we needed to do a better job keeping Princeton from getting additional chances on rebounds. But overall, we played well below the 30. Princeton's counterattack was very effective, and so was their outlet."

Yale (2-6, 0-2 Ivy League) hosts No. 1 UConn, which has won the last two NCAA Championships, on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Report by Sam Rubin '95 (sam.rubin@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity