Teresa Benvenuti was down in the dumps for a few weeks last fall during her junior season with the Princeton University field hockey team, missing six games due to a broken nose.

This fall, the upbeat Benvenuti is at full strength and is savoring every minute she has been on the field.

“Someone was saying that we have six weeks left of the season and then I am a retired athlete,” said star midfielder Benvenuti with a chuckle.

“We are counting the days until the season ends so we are just enjoying the time while we have it.”

Benvenuti and her teammates enjoyed themselves last weekend as they topped Yale 4-0 on Saturday and then topped Penn State 2-0 a day later, improving to 5-4 overall and 2-0 Ivy League in the process.

“Penn State is a great test, we have now been 2-2 with them in my career,” said Benvenuti, a native of nearby Morristown and a former Oak Knoll School star.

“We have had some tough losses against top teams. Coming out here after a great week of training, we really wanted to make sure that all of our hard work has been paying off and come out with a 2-0 weekend.”

In the first half against Penn State, the 20th-ranked Tigers had to work hard to keep the Nittany Lions off the scoreboard as they outshot Princeton 8-6 and generated five penalty corners.

“We just went back to the principles, marking, getting numbers around the ball, keeping your feet moving,” said Benvenuti, reflecting on the defensive effort.

“We were pretty tired from our game yesterday and we knew that Penn State is fast and they are physical. We just had to stay in there and the tide would change and it would be our game and our time.”

With the teams knotted in a scoreless stalemate at halftime, Benvenuti and the Tigers knew they had to pick up their pace.

“It was better movement, support your teammates,” recalled Benvenuti. “We are out there because we love each other and because we love the game. So it was play for each other and keep working hard when you don’t have the ball and you will get return.”

With Benvenuti working hard in the midfield, Princeton seized control of the game as  Maddie Copeland scored 2:47 into the half and Natalie Catalino tallied 14 minutes later.

“I just do the simple things where I can and exploit weaknesses on the other team if I can,” said Benvenuti, reflecting on her role. “I look for my teammates and have fun.”

Princeton head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn is having fun seeing Benvenuti rise to the occasion in her final college campaign.

“Teresa is such a gifted athlete and a really good field hockey player,” said Holmes-Winn of Benvenuti, who has two goals and a team-high five assists so far this fall.

“We are fortunate to have her. She has got great perspective in general. She has a really nice way about her. She stays really balanced and I think that is a very positive thing for our team.”

At halftime, the Tigers got some perspective from one of Holmes-Winn’s assistant coaches, David Williamson.

“I think the most powerful thing that happened in the locker room came from David, who said you don’t want to come back in this room at the end of this game and think would have, could have, should have,” said Holmes-Winn.

“You are capable, you are right there. Just have no regrets when you come back in here. I love how they kept focused on the process and not the outcome.”

Holmes-Winn loved how freshman Elise Wing impacted the Tiger defensive effort.

“Elise’s instincts are impeccable, she is really composed on the ball defensively, “said Holmes-Winn.

“She knows when to have a step and when to influence our defensive structure really positively. Overall when you look at the 70 minutes, everyone defended. We just defended as a team. Every single person was really, really active defensively off the ball and that is going to be difficult for any team to manage.”

Getting more active offensively helped Princeton break through in the second half.

“We started moving; in the first half, we were a victim of our double turnovers, winning the ball and giving it right back,” explained Holmes-Winn.

“Once we started to control the ball in those moments, then we started to get the movement going. We trusted the movement, we gave the ball early and we were able to get our flow from the attacking perspective.”

Former Stuart Country Day and Peddie star Copeland is certainly in the flow, having scored nine goals in her last five games.

“I think things are opening up for Maddie more because she is being so much more active off the ball,” said Holmes-Winn.

“She is creating chances for herself on the defensive side. She is coming up with a lot of balls. She is taking good lines and creating opportunities for the midfielder behind her on the intercept. She is being really sneaky in the seam. She is a really bright player, she has a really high hockey IQ.”

With the Tigers having won three straight games after a 2-4 start, Holmes-Winn likes the way her players are taking advantage of opportunity collectively.

“I can’t underscore the early bits of our season and how great it was for us to really understand where we are going to be the most effective personnel-wise and how to use our strengths,” said Holmes-Winn.

“I think we have people in the right positions for them to leverage their strengths and for me, that feels so good. I think frankly it feels really good to the whole team. I think everyone is pretty comfortable with what is expected of them.”

Holmes-Winn is expecting the Tigers to keep playing strongly this weekend as they host Columbia on October 9, looking to avenge a 3-2 loss to the Lions in 2014 that was Princeton’s lone Ivy setback last season and its first-ever defeat to the Lions.

“People see the product on the weekend but every single one of our players, all 23, just work so hard,” said Holmes-Winn.

“I think this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, was not possible without the work of the group. Penn State had a day off in between so I love to see us physiologically being able to put together two really good games. Mentally being able to stay really engaged was great, too.”

Benvenuti, for her part, believes Princeton will be engaged for the clash against Columbia.

“We are looking forward to that game and getting back our winning streak against Columbia,” said Benvenuti.

“We have a bunch of young players; it took a while to get the ball rolling and knowing how each other plays.”