Tigers ready to go full force into Ivy League play
The Princeton University women’s soccer team got its Ivy League season off to a good start when the Tigers topped Yale, 2-1, in overtime last weekend.
The Tigers head into the Ivy League slate full force starting this weekend when they host Dartmouth on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Roberts Stadium. Princeton tuned up for the visit by the Big Green with a 6-1 win at St. Peter’s on Tuesday as Jen Hoy and Liana Cornacchio scored two goals apiece for the Tigers.
Princeton is now 5-3-1 overall, with two of those losses coming on a trip to California just before the start of the Ivy League portion of the schedule. While the Tigers lost at No. 3 UCLA and also at Cal-Irvine, the trip served its purpose of getting Princeton ready for league play.
“I think it was a tremendous challenge to play in California,” Princeton coach Julie Shackford said. “First off, we are about a month behind in terms of start date (with the rest of Division 1), so the beginning of the season is always challenging. UCLA might be the best college team I have coached against or seen in my 17 years at Princeton. I would be surprised if UCLA doesn’t contend for a national championship. It was definitely eye-opening for our players and yes, I believe the experience will help them down the stretch. We played a much better second half and adjusted better to their speed and athleticism.
“Against UCI, we played a man down for 70 minutes so that environment brought another unique challenge...defending numbers down, trying to thwart attacks and holding on for the better part of the game.”
Princeton came home and defeated Lafayette, 5-2, before posting the wins over Yale and St. Peter’s. They appear ready for an Ivy League race that looks to be wide open.
I think there is a lot of parity in the League this year,” Shackford said. “We are ready to fight for a championship.”
Hoy continues to lead the way for the Tigers offensively with her two goals against St. Peter’s running her season total to 11 in nine games. On Monday she was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for the second time this season while also being named to the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week.
After posting seven straight shutouts, The College of New Jersey finally allowed a goal in a 1-0 overtime loss to Montclair State on Saturday. TCNJ goalkeeper Kendra Griffith had gone 659 minutes without allowing a goal this season before the Hawks scored in overtime to drop the Lions to 7-1 on the season.
The goal was the first allowed this season by a TCNJ defense that had allowed just 30 shot attempts in eight games.
“The defense as a unit is playing very well right now,” TCNJ coach Joe Russo said. “The common denominator the past four years has been Allison Foy, She has been remarkable. She has the uncanny ability to make the players around her better and also the ability to be very calm. When everything else around her is like a tornado. It is an exceptional trait for a center back. Also the return of fifth year senior Brenna Rubino and the return of injured goalkeeper Kendra Griffith have all been contributing factors to our success.”
The Lions were scheduled to host Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday night and will play at RutgersNewark on Saturday as they look to rebound in the NJAC.
Rutgers split a pair of Big East home games last weekend and is now 8-4 overall and 1-3 in the conference. The Scarlet Knights topped South Florida, 1-0, in overtime before dropping a 2-0 decision to Marquette on Sunday.
Jonelle Filigno continued her strong scoring season with the lone tally on a penalty kick against the Bulls. Filigno has scored nine goals in 12 games this season for Rutgers, which is back on the road on Friday night at St. John’s before traveling to Syracuse for a Sunday afternoon tilt.
“This team is still a work in progress,” Rutgers coach Glenn Crooks said after the loss to Marquette. “I’m very proud of this team. We just have to learn from our experiences and start taking shots to put pressure on our opponents.”
After falling to Burlington, 3-0, last Thursday, Mercer County Community College bounced back with a 1-0 win over CCBC-Essex on Saturday. Jessica Larsen scored the lone goal of the game for the Vikings, while Jackie Laurenti made 16 saves in goal for the shutout.
The Vikings are now 5-3 and play at home tonight at 6 p.m. against Essex. The Vikings are also home on Tuesday when they host Morris.
Rider played Delaware State to a 2-2 tie last Friday and then had a week off before this Friday night’s MAAC opener at home against Fairfield. The Broncs went 5-1-2 in the non-league portion of their schedule.
Kelly Sandefur and Abi Cottom scored goals for Rider, which was unable to score in overtime against a winless Delaware State team. The Broncs will be looking to get back on top of their game with conference play about to start.
“I have no idea what to expect from conference play if we play like we did tonight,” Rider coach Drayson Hounsome said after the tie at Delaware State. “We have some work to do.”
The Broncs will complete the opening weekend of play in the MAAC at home on Sunday afternoon against Iona.