Swanke’s goal lifts Princeton past ND

PRINCETON >> Morgan Swanke admitted there were a few jitters when she lined up to take a stroke.

Swanke shook off whatever nerves there might have been and scored the game’s lone goal as the Princeton field hockey team beat Notre Dame, 1-0, on a warm Thursday afternoon on the turn in Princeton in a Colonial Valley Conference game.

The game for the most part was played in the midfield as it wasn’t until 5:18 remaining that Swanke converted.

“I was nervous to take it,” said Swanke. “But, we practice strokes every day and I think it was fun to do it again.

Princeton (11-2-1) and Notre Dame (8-5) are the fourth and fifth seed, respectively, in the Mercer County Tournament and this was a good tune up for both teams.

Also, the Irish and the Tigers had key players sidelined with injuries,

“It was a tough one,” said ND coach Cheryl Harris. “We are missing a few starters and the kids really played hard. We have to try some new people in different positions and we had a lot of players step up a lot.”

The Irish kept the pressure on the Tigers cage late, but the play of the Princeton defense and Grace Cooke in the cage kept them off the scoreboard.

“We want to try and keep pushing the ball up,” said Princeton midfielder Ava Greene. “We knew the speed of the Irish and the style of their play.”

Both teams had a few chances, but it wasn’t until Swanke’s stroke that things changed on the scoreboard.

“I really liked the way we competed in this game,” said Princeton coach Heather Serverson. “We never gave up and we just kept at it. Every time out we worked on things to fix and they went out and fixed it. I can’t ask for more as a coach, they are very coachable.”

The question surrounding both the Tigers and the Irish is are they ready for Saturday’s MCT openers. There is a strong possibility they will meet in the quarterfinal round.

“I think we are ready and I think we have been tested at the right time,” said Serverson. “The last couple games, Notre Dame and Lawrence, have done a great job of preparing us to be at the level we need to be at.”

Notre Dame (8-6) Princeton (11-2-1) 0 0 — 0 0 1 — 1

Goals: P: Swanke. Shots: ND: 10, P: 3. Saves: ND: Pinto 3. P: Cooke 10