McGarvie, PU look for big finish

Tigers field hockey seeks momentum for postseason

By: Justin Feil
   Goal-scoring was an issue for the Princeton University field hockey team last year as one-goal losses became a rather unwelcome habit.
   Enter Holly McGarvie, a seemingly unlikely source of offense. Last year, McGarvie had a grand total of one assist. This year, the sophomore has a team-leading eight goals and two assists.
   "My goal was to score one goal," McGarvie said. "I had one assist last year. In high school, I had a little bit of a boring role. I was mostly on defense. It’s really exciting this year. I’m having a lot of fun."
   McGarvie’s goal scoring has been a key to the Tigers’ 10-4 season. Her fourth game-winning goal of the season gave the Tigers a 3-0 win over Rutgers on Sunday. It was the third straight win for Princeton, which has already wrapped up the Ivy League title and subsequent automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament even before they host Penn 7 p.m. tonight at Class of 1952 Stadium to end the regular season. The Ivy crown is their second straight and 12th in the last 14 years.
   "We want to finish with a few strong wins going into the playoffs," McGarvie said. "Now that we know we’re in, and have the Ivy automatic bid, it’s been important to focus on our weaknesses and improving them. We’ve had a couple chances left so we’ll be best prepared for the first round.
   "We’ve been working a lot on individual and team defense. Our goal in this past game was to allow none or as few defensive penalty corners as possible. It’s important because in the playoffs we can’t give up many. We’ve been giving up a few too many. It’s going to be harder when we play the good teams. Giving up a corner could be a goal. We have to be careful not allowing the ball back in our 25."
   McGarvie can play a bigger role in both scoring goals and in preventing them. She has a new position that keeps her in the center of the action. Playing center mid allows her to keep the ball from leaving the opponent’s end and to get her cracks at goal-scoring.
   "The way I run practices, I expect our defenders to be just as good around the circle as our attackers are," said PU head coach Kristen Holmes-Winn. "I want players who can play both sides of the field. We kind of see where players blossom. In Holly’s case, she was showing incredible adeptness inside our 25. She is relentless attacking, which is what makes her a great defender too.
   "She kind of came in being a very role type of player. She was a freshman last year and didn’t have the understanding of what it takes to play in the center of the field. She’s been able to develop that. We’ve let her go with that. She makes good decisions. She has good instincts."
   The biggest adjustment for McGarvie is having to look to both sides after playing all last year on the right side. Now when she gets the ball, she has either option.
   "All the people around me have been doing a good job of talking to me," McGarvie said. ‘They’ve been really helpful."
   What has helped more is having McGarvie’s finishing up front. Princeton already has six more goals than they had all of last year with at least two games to play.
   "There has been an improvement," McGarvie added of finishing. "We’ve been able to take advantage more of teams we’re better than. We’d be better than teams last year, but if you only come out with a one-goal win, it’s hard to tell. Our team has put an emphasis on finishing and showing how much better we are than other teams. You can only show how much better you are than a team if you win by three or four goals."
   After opening the Ivy season with a pair of one-goal wins, including an overtime victory against Dartmouth, the Tigers have been making statements with each of their conference contests. They beat Columbia by three goals, Cornell by six, Brown by five and scored three goals in a win over Harvard two weeks ago.
   "After the first couple of Ivy games," said McGarvie, who has two game-winners in Ivy games, "we got in a groove of being able to finish. We’ve been able to start finishing. I don’t think we’ve completely finished every time but we’re getting there. We really want to finish undefeated in the Ivy League. Penn is our most important game now."
   Added Holmes-Winn: "It’s been a goal to go 7-0. From their perspective, this is a must-win. Also it’s preparation for the tournament. We’re going to try to be disciplined how they play. Penn is one of the top teams in the country. It’s tremendous preparation. That’s very, very important. They want to go undefeated in the Ivy League. We’re doing everything we can to make sure that happens."
   The Tigers met the Quakers in the preseason, but undoubtedly plenty has changed since then. For one, McGarvie has developed into a top finisher to make Princeton a more dangerous team. The Tigers come off an encouraging win over Rutgers while Penn did not lose a game in all of October so tonight presents a test for a Princeton team that’s development has impressed Holmes-Winn.
   "Our mentality has matured in a way that I’ve been really proud of this team," she said. "After we beat Harvard and clinched the Ivy title, not one person on our team celebrated. They won but they weren’t happy how they played. Yes, we won, 3-1, but they felt they wasted some of that opportunity. We want to go 7-0. We want to be 7-0. We still have Penn. We know there’s business to take care of. They way they’ve reacted, that showed my athletes understand that mentality we want."
   Princeton was happier about the overall effort against Rutgers on Sunday. In addition to three goals, the Tigers played solidly on defense to earn the shutout.
   "Our coaches told us it was some of the best defense they’ve seen from us," McGarvie said. "It was good to see our work in the past week had paid off. It will help that we can look to things we’ve been successful on and build on them. Now that we’re coming off three wins, we can use that going into Penn."
   And try to get a fourth as they gain momentum for the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers are shaping up at the perfect time for a run. Winning tonight will help keep Princeton sharp before they find out Tuesday night who they have drawn for the NCAA Tournament.
   "One of the biggest things that allows you to compete with the top teams is having discipline within your structure," Holmes-Winn said. "What those top teams do over 70 minutes is pull you out of your structure. You might be able to play with them for a half. But they break you down eventually. It’s about sharpening up how we defend in middle of the field. I think the offense will take care of itself. We have to be extraordinarily disciplined in our defense. We’ve done a ton of defensive footwork. That’s going to be the biggest thing to be successful in that first round."
   Undoubtedly, Holly McGarvie will play a role in the Tigers success. Whether it’s keeping the ball out of the Tigers’ end, or scoring a goal, she’s grown more important in her first year at center midfield.