STICKING WITH IT: Princeton University field hockey player Cat Caro, right, battles for the ball in a game this fall. Last Friday, senior star Caro scored a goal in a losing cause as Princeton fell 3-2 to Delaware in the NCAA semifinals in Norfolk, Va.  The defeat left the Tigers with a final record of 12-8. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For the Princeton University field hockey team, its run to the NCAA Final 4 amounted to something of a revenge tour.

After losing to Penn State and Virginia in regular season play, Princeton posted a 2-1 win over the former in the first round of the NCAA tourney and then edged the latter 3-2 in the quarterfinals.

Last Friday in the NCAA semis in Norfolk, Va., the Tigers faced a Delaware team it had defeated 4-2 on September 11. This time the Blue Hens turned the tables on the Tigers, pulling out a 3-2 nailbiter, scoring the winning goal with 1:30 left in regulation.

Coming into the high stakes rematch, Princeton head coach Carla Tagliente knew that Delaware posed challenges at both ends of the field.

“On defense, they don’t really come out at us, they kind of fall away and lull you in and trap you in different parts of the field,” said Tagliente.

“The flip side of that, the other thing that posed issues for us on the other side, was their attack and their outletting scheme. They have a couple of players who are very powerful; they play a system where they try to outlet through the sides but they have two center midfielders that are also very good. You take away the options to go outside and they are going to hurt you in the middle.”

Princeton fell behind 1-0 midway through the first half but answered back with a goal by Ryan McCarthy and the game was knotted at 1-1 at halftime.

“They were slamming the ball at us consistently, right down the spine of the field,” said Tagliente.

“As halftime rolled around, we had to change a few things around. We had to be a little more passive on our press and let them come at us, instead of forcing them to hit at us.”

In the second half, the Blue Hens went ahead 2-1 at the 55:47 mark but Cat Caro came through with a tally for the Tigers 11 minutes later to knot the contest at 2-2.  The Blue Hens scored the game winner on a quick counter with 1:30 remaining in regulation.

“I thought we did some really nice things, we got ourselves in position to be a player with three minutes to go,” said Tagliente reflecting on the loss to Delaware, which went on to beat North Carolina 3-2 on Sunday to win the national title.

“It is a game we could have won 4-2 like last time or also a game that was much like this one, neck and neck the whole time. We put ourselves in the position we needed to win, we just didn’t do enough. That is sports.”

Over the course of the fall, Princeton did a lot of good things as it went 12-8.

“When you look at the number of personnel changes and how the players individually developed over the year, it has been quite remarkable,” said Tagliente.

“There have been a lot of really great stories individually and it culminated in a great collective story for the group.”

Junior standout Lexi Quirk and freshman goalie Grace Baylis were two players in particular who made great progress as the season went on.

“If you look at Lexi Quirk, at the beginning of the year, I didn’t even know if that kid would play,” said Tagliente.

“She is scoring goals; she is a strong defensive infielder for us. She was the first person off the bench all season. You go to Grace Baylis, who didn’t even finish the semester last year because of that concussion. She comes back not even having put on the pads in 10 months. She is our only goalkeeper and you see her grow through the season. Down the stretch she was one of the best goalies in the country; you watch that transformation happen and it is incredible.”

The Tigers got incredible work up front from junior McCarthy and senior Caro with the former scoring 14 goals and the latter chipping in a team-high 18 tallies on the way to being named the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year.

“Ryan McCarthy doubled her goal production from last year and she was scoring some absolute highlight reel goals,” said Tagliente.

“To just watch her grow as a player was great. When you look at her in comparison to other forwards across the country, she is one of the most dynamic. I have high hopes for her next year to carry forward and do even more. Cat Caro tripled her goals from last year. Some of the things that these guys did is just unheard of.”

Tagliente was thrilled with how her players never stopped wanting to do more as they battled through an up-and-down season which saw Princeton come up short in its bid for a 12th straight Ivy crown but rebounding to make the Final 4.

“These guys just kept wanting to get better; that was the coolest part of this whole thing,” said Tagliente.

“They kept pushing to get better and better and we knew if we could get to postseason we could do some great things. We would not have been able to do great things if these guys hadn’t been continuing to improve in different areas. It is a credit to these guys.”

In Tagliente’s view, the team’s three seniors, Hailey Reeves, Ellen Dobrijevic, and Caro, deserve a lot of credit for keeping the team on the same page.

“We are graduating three great kids; I am in a little bit of mourning about that,“ said Tagliente.

“Outside of what they have done on the field, they are a large part of why the culture was so positive and so good this year. Not that we can’t continue that, and not that new people won’t step up, but when you have three players as special as Cat, Hailey, and Ellen I think you just step back and get a little emotional about it because of what they have done. I am very happy for them that they had the senior season that they have had.”

With 18 players returning, including four All-Ivy performers (freshman Maddie Bacskai, sophomore Sophia Tornetta, sophomore Elise Wong, and McCarthy), Princeton appears poised for some good seasons ahead.

“You look at what we have coming back and the progress we have made with some of these guys, I feel good about the current team at the moment as well,” said Tagliente, noting that the program has a stellar freshman class coming in next fall.

“I am excited that we have the whole spring, it is going to be great. I am excited about what we can do with the talent that we have.”

Taking the helm of the Tigers this summer when longtime head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn left for a job in Boston, Tagliente developed a deep connection with her players in her debut campaign.

“I think on both sides, it has been a good pairing, you never know how those things are going to go,” said Tagliente.

“We just focused on them individually and collectively, building relationships with them. I think it paid off massively down the stretch. It is an immensely close team among the players and also between the players and the staff as well. I think there are strong bonds and a lot of trust.”