COOL CAT: Princeton University field hockey player Cat Caro controls the ball in a 2015 game. Last Saturday, senior star Caro scored two goals to help 13th-ranked Princeton defeat Dartmouth 4-0 in the Ivy League opener for both teams. A day later, Caro and the Tigers edged American 2-1 to improve to 5-3 overall. Princeton plays at Yale on October 1 and at No. 4 Penn State on October 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Cat Caro played her heart out for the Princeton University field hockey team as it fell 2-1 to powerful Maryland last week.

The senior midfielder/striker scored the lone goal for 13th-ranked Princeton against the 6th-ranked Terps and made her presence felt from end to end.

As Caro hit the field last Saturday when Princeton started its Ivy League campaign by hosting Dartmouth, she was looking to build on her performance against Maryland.

“I felt that,” said Caro, reflecting on the impact of the Maryland game. “I was feeding off of my teammates and starting to play with everyone’s energy. It is just playing, not thinking, and having fun.”

Having won 11 straight Ivy crowns and 21 in the last 22 years, Princeton was primed to start it league campaign.

“It is always an exciting part of the season,” said the 5’5 Caro, a native of nearby Bridgewater, N.J.

“That was our goal, to feed off the energy we had with Maryland; playing hard and playing to win.”

The Tigers played hard from the outset against the Big Green as Caro got Princeton on the board with a goal at the 9:11 mark.

“It was a great ball from Lotta (freshman Carlotta van Gierke); I was at the right place at the right time,” said Caro. “She played it to me and I just shot it.”

Sparked by Caro’s tally, Princeton added goals by Ryan McCarthy and Jane Donio-Enscoe to build a 3-0 lead by halftime.

“When anyone scores, there is that initial momentum,” noted Caro. “It could have been my goal, it could have been Jane’s goal.”

In the second half, Caro helped Princeton keep up that momentum, scoring with 31:24 left in the half to make it a 4-0 game. Caro’s strike was the last goal of the contest as Princeton won by that margin.

“That was a great ball from Krista Hoffman,” said Caro, in assessing her second tally. “I just shot it in, it is all good.”

Helping new head coach Carla Tagliente earn her first Ivy win made it a good day all around for the Tigers.

“Overall the transition has been really, really smooth so we are really, really lucky,” said Caro.

“Both of our new coaches (head coach Tagliente and assistant Dina Rizzo) are awesome. They were great players so they naturally know the game so well. They are great leaders, everyone respects them and loves them. I think all of that together has really made the transition smooth. They really want the best for us and they don’t want us to feel like we missed anything or lost anything with the new coaches.”

Princeton head coach Tagliente, for her part, was excited for her Ivy debut.

“You circle that date and you are looking forward to it, we have had a challenging schedule so far,” said Tagliente.

“We have had some good wins and some tough losses and had some really good competition. We talked in the locker room today about the significance of starting Ivy League play. We are the target in the conference. There is an expectation that we are always going to win and I asked them to knock that out of their heads. The expectation right now should be increasing the gap between themselves and everyone else in the Ivies and focusing on dominating game by game.”

The Tigers responded with a dominant performance, outshooting Dartmouth 33-2 and building an 11-3 edge in penalty corners.

“Today we got off to a good start, we ended up with 33 shots,” said Tagliente. “We need to put a lot more in but we also went deep into the bench. When we needed it, we scored and some of the stuff we did was really good.”

Tagliente credited Caro with producing some really good plays in the win over the Big Green.

“The last game was a real breakout game for Cat, she had one goal but playing the whole game was outstanding,” asserted Tagliente.

“She has really been focusing on paying attention to small details and I think you can see it. It has been great to see her improve game by game. She looked good in this game and I am happy that she broke out early. I think we will continue to see that from her. I don’t think she is trying to do too much. We are just trying to get her to play within herself because she has a good group around her. She doesn’t need to do everything.”

A number of Tigers produced good efforts against Dartmouth. “We had good scoring balance, I think Jane Donio-Enscoe has been playing great and she finally popped one in,” said Tagliente.

“I think she did a really nice job. Maddie Bacskai gets overlooked because she doesn’t score goals but she has been really a rock back there at sweeper. For a freshman to play in that position, her value on the field is really tremendous. Elise Wong has been doing great. Nicole Catalino has been playing great. Krista Hoffman is a freshman who has been really adding a lot.”

At the defensive end, Princeton did a nice job, keeping calm as it stifled the Big Green.

“They did a good job, it is not an easy team to play against,” said Tagliente, whose team edged American 2-1 on Sunday improve to 5-3 overall and plays at Yale on October 1 and at No. 4 Penn State on October 2.

“They really play so differently than most teams we play against; you see them tip and redirect balls a lot. That is not the norm and it is challenging to play against. I am happy with how the defense handled some chaotic situations.

Caro, for her part, is handling her final college season by keeping in the moment.

“It is last one, best one; leaving it all out there and whatever happens, happens,” said Caro, who now has five goals on the season and 23 in her Princeton career.

“Whatever is in front of us, that is what we focus on. We don’t look ahead to the last game.”