For the Princeton University field hockey team, hosting a pair of Top 20 foes in No. 12 Albany and 10th-ranked Delaware last weekend was a critical early season litmus test.

In each game, 16th-ranked Princeton ended up digging a hole, trailing Albany 2-1 early in the second half on Friday and falling behind Delaware 2-1 midway through the first half two days later.

But passing the tests with aplomb, the Tigers rallied, eking out a 3-2 win over Albany and pulling away to a 4-2 triumph over Delaware, improving to 3-1 on the season.

In the view of sophomore striker Sophia Tornetta, who had two goals and an assist in the win over Albany and added the final goal against Delaware, Princeton made a big statement with the victories.

“It was amazing, I think it really showed who we are as a team and defined us,” said Tornetta, a native of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., who was a first-team All-Ivy League performer last year and was named as the Ivy Rookie of the Year.

“Even though we have setbacks, we are a team that comes together and comes back stronger to overcome that and I think this weekend, we showed everybody what Tiger field hockey is about and that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

The Tigers have displayed an ability to put pressure on their foes all over the field this season. “I think that is something that this year’s team can rely on because we are a fast team, we have a lot of speed up front and in the midfield,” added Tornetta.

“Whatever we do, we can always go back and put pressure on. We know we have everybody stepping up behind us and we are going as one unit as opposed to one individual person going.”

Tornetta produced a superb individual effort in scoring the insurance goal, backhanding the ball into the cage with 2:20
remaining in regulation.

“The coach (Carla Tagliente) was saying play around with it, don’t give them an easy out,” recalled Tornetta, who now had four goals, tying her for the team-high with Ryan McCarthy.

“Then all of a sudden, I see four or five people coming at me and it is wait, if they are here, there is nobody in the circle. Realizing that, I shot and then it was oh that just went in so it was really cool.”

The Tigers have made a really smooth transition to the change in leadership with new head coach Tagliente taking the helm of the program and bringing in assistant coach Dina Rizzo.

“It is something that made us all so much closer,” said Tornetta. “The new coaches have really brought us together and instilled the belief that we can do it, that we are good enough and if we believe in ourselves then we have endless possibilities this season.”

Tagliente, for her part, senses that her squad is developing a good self-belief.

“This weekend is a huge weekend for us, both teams are perennial NCAA teams and Albany is coming off a Final 4 not too long ago with all of their players back,” said Tagliente.

“I am really impressed with these guys, I think they have had a rough go of it in the last few years with some of these tight games. In some of the closer ones, they haven’t come out on top so now winning close games giving them a ton of confidence.”

The Tigers have a lot of confidence when the ball is on Tornetta’s stick.

“Sophia is probably one of our better players on the ball and at the end we wanted the ball in her hands when we wanted to take our time,” said Tagliente.

“She has the ball handling skills and she has incredible composure. When we were locked up at 2-2, she had a shot and wanted something better. I told her to just go with her gut and put it in the cage. That last goal was the simplest shot but the simplest shots go in sometimes.”

While the gutsy wins last weekend were sweet for the Tigers, Tagliente is more impressed with the team’s daily progress.

“The wins are great but their improvement is most important,” said Tagliente.

“They are an incredible group; you say something once and it is lodged in their brains. They really take things to heart and make improvements. We go game by game but the main thing we are focused on is that we get better incrementally. The wins are the icing on the cake right now, giving them a lot of confidence.”

For Tagliente, gaining that self-assurance could lead to a memorable fall for the Tigers.

“I want to make this the best season for them that it can be; there may have been doubt in their minds in the beginning but I don’t think there is now,” said Tagliente.

“They can leave their mark and leave this program a lot better than they came into it. The seniors, Cat (Caro), Ellen (Dobrijevic), and Hailey (Reeves), see that now and I think the whole team does too. The past is the past and I think they have turned that page. To see them just moving along right now, it is great to watch.”

In Tornetta’s view, posting the win over Delaware was a key turning point for this group.

“In previous years we have been losing to them, they are a great team,” said Tornetta.

“At the end when everybody had a smile from ear to ear on their face and ran together, I am thinking this is the moment, from this point on, there is no turning back and nobody wants to.”