Shelley Shots

TigerBlog was on the field hockey bus Sunday morning as the team prepared for its short ride up to Rutgers.

So was Shelley Szwast, a most amiable photographer for Princeton Athletics. You've seen Shelley's pictures many times. If you've ever talked to her, you know what TB is saying about her being amiable. 

Anyway, Shelley was sitting across the aisle from TB. As the players walked on, they all had the same reaction: a huge "Hi Shelley!!!!!!" with all those exclamation points, followed by a nod or a half a wave when they saw TB. 

It's okay. TB wasn't offended — too much.

No, he understood. It's Shelley after all. 

It was a big weekend for Shelley and her photos. First, there was women's rugby Saturday, when the Tigers knocked off Bowdoin 59-0 for its first-ever win in 15s. 

Shelley was there. Of course she was. She's everywhere all the time.

Here's her picture of head coach Josie Ziluca, as she gets drenched by the water postgame:

That's a great shot. That's a shot that will be blown up and hung on more than one wall forever.

Meanwhile, Sunday, the field hockey team defeated Rutgers 3-2, getting two goals less than a minute apart late in the fourth quarter to get the come-from-behind victory. Princeton's three goals were all scored by Grace Schulze.

It had been, as TB noted in his game story, a mere 681 days since Schulze last scored for Princeton. That goal came in the 2022 NCAA tournament first round game against Syracuse.

She ended that season as an All-Ivy League selection, and she was to have been Princeton's leading returning scorer a year ago. All of that vanished relatively quickly.

The 15 or so goals that she would have scored last year never happened, since she was hurt less than a minute into the second game of the year and missed the remainder of the season. If you're wondering how she spent that time (and the impact it had on someone else), then you should click HERE.

Now healthy, and once again a team captain, Schulze broke through in a big way against Rutgers. After not scoring in the first five games of the year, Schulze scored all three in the win against the Scarlet Knights. 

Somewhere in the middle of the game, Shelley came up with this picture, which TB thinks is seriously cool:

You can see the ball clearly. It also makes Schulze look like a giant, rather than the barely five-feet that she actually stands.

Her first came two minutes into the game, off a penalty corner. After waiting 681 days between goals, she then scored two more less than a minute apart in the final five minutes of the game. 

Those two goals including one incredible individual effort on which she dribbled from close to midfield into the circle and then lifted the ball across the goalie and into the top far corner of the cage to tie at 2-2. She then won it on almost an instant replay of the first goal.

Did her teammates approve of her performance? 

Well, they lifted her up, which isn't the toughest chore, given her size. It did make for great jubo, of course:

That's also great stuff from Shelley. 

After the game, on the short ride back to Princeton, Shelley was inundated with compliments from the players about the pictures she had taken. Did any of them even notice that TB had written a game story?  

Kidding. Kidding.

Once again, if you're a Princeton Athletics fan and you don't follow Shelley on social media, you're definitely missing out. Her stuff is great, and she is a fan first and foremost.

You can find her at @split2ndphoto on X and Instagram.