Princeton Dominates Ivies, Harvard Consistent

The Princeton train keeps on rolling, but Harvard is in the rearview mirror.

Back on September 20, the defending Ivy League champions blasted one of the leagues' up-and-coming teams, Cornell, 5-0. A bit of a fluke? Well, last weekend, Princeton trashed Dartmouth, 7-1.

So at this early point in the season, it seems like the Tigers (6-0, 2-0 Ivy, No. 13 nationally) will lay waste to the rest of the Ivy League. Twelve goals in two games is rather unreal, even if there isn't any offsides in NCAA field hockey this year.

In fact, the only team in the Ancient Eight that's playing with any consistency is Harvard (4-3, 1-0, No. 16). Ranked for the first time in years, the Crimson's three losses have all been at the hands of Top-10 teams--2-1 defeats to UConn and Duke and a 7-1 loss Wednesday at Boston University.

Add in a win over previouslyranked William and Mary and two overtime victories against Rhode Island and Yale, Harvard has had a mostly successful and certainly heartpounding start to its season. Tomorrow, Harvard plays at Penn.

The Quakers (2-3, 0-1) have had an up-and-down start, much like all the other Ivy schools not named "Princeton" and "Harvard". Penn began the year against Philly rivals, beating St. Joseph's but falling to Villanova, before getting crushed by Dartmouth in Hanover, 6-1.

But then the season turned around for the Quakers again, as they topped the Tribe of William & Mary in Virginia, 2-1. When Penn takes on Harvard, who knows which team will show up?

Dartmouth (4-3, 1-1) should be asking the same questions. After starting its season very successfully with a midwestern swing, shutting out St. Louis University and Southwest Missouri State and losing a close 3-2 game to No. 12 Northwestern, The Big Green kept it rolling by thumping the Quakers.

But then the other shoe dropped. Boston College won by a goal; Princeton's Kirsty Hale set an Ivy League record in the Princeton Dartmouth contest for points in a game with eight (three goals, two assists).

The next day, Dartmouth turned the tables against LaSalle with a 6-2 win. The squad next plays Brown tomorrow; there will be a lot of goals, but for which team is unknown.

Speaking of the Bears (2-4, 0-1), things might be looking up for the league's eternal doormat. Wins over Vermont and New Hampshire--a team that was ranked last year--highlight the season, and the team's only Ivy loss was only by a goal (1-0 to Yale).

The Elis (2-2, 1-1) need to get back on track. Last Saturday's 2-1 double-overtime loss to Harvard was disappointing given the team's great defensive effort in the first half. Yale is also the only Ivy team to lose to William & Mary (4-1) and they only beat Brown by a goal. Tomorrow, the team hosts Princeton, which probably won't help things much either.

A loss to Princeton sure didn't help Cornell (3-3, 0-1), except for the fact that the Big Red got that game out of the way.

Since the 5-0 loss, Cornell has had three 2-1 games--an overtime win over Lehigh, an overtime loss to Colgate and a win over Holy Cross. Cornell next takes on Ivy newcomer Columbia tomorrow.

The Lions (2-4) aren't an official Ivy League team just yet. Columbia is only playing three of the Ancient Eight teams in its inaugural season (Cornell, Yale and Brown) and filling up the rest of its schedule with various non-conference teams. The squad won its first two games ever last week, beating Fairfield and Siena.

Notes

Harvard and Princeton are monopolizing the Ivy's top honors like a hotel on Boardwalk Avenue. For the second straight week, a Tiger was the Player of the Week (Amy MacFarlane last week, Hale this time), and a Crimson freshman was named Rookie of the Week.

Dominique Kalil got the honor this time for scoring the game-tying goal against Yale, while goalie Anya Cowan won a week ago.