Women's soccer kicks off season with wins

The Princeton women’s soccer team started out their 2015 campaign incredibly strong, as they swept this weekend in games against Howard University and Fordham University.

The Tigers (2-0 overall), looking to make their first postseason bid since 2012, made a thunderous statement on Friday evening, as they hammered the Howard Bisons (1-2 overall) 6-0. Six different Tigers found the back of the net on the day, as the team won by its largest margin of victory since beating Francis Marion 6-0 back in the 2011 season.

“I think everyone was ready to play,” junior midfielder Haley Chow commented. “There was a crazy intensity as soon as we started the game.”

Sunday’s game was a fair amount tighter than Friday’s affair. The Tigers and the Rams (2-2 overall) were still scoreless as the first half of the game ended.

“I think we didn’t start as hard,” Chow noted. “We played to what they were giving us as opposed to trying to play our own game [which is] settle the ball and move around them.”

However, the Tigers’ offense really came in during the second half. It was senior midfielder Stephanie Paloscio who broke the tie, putting it in off the assist from sophomore midfielder Vanessa Gregoire. Fordham, however, came back soon after, as midfielder Ivana Lahcanski breathed life into a lethargic offense performance, getting a goal at the 58 minute mark to bring her team level.

The Tigers, however, saved their best for last, as senior defender Emily Sura came through for the goal in the 77th minute, with another assist from Gregoire. The Tigers would hold on for the victory thereafter, securing a 2-0 start for first-year head coach Sean Driscoll.

While the score against Fordham may have been close, the Tigers were the aggressors for the entire game. They had 19 shots on the game to the Rams’ 5, and 9 shots on target to the Rams’ 1.

With this weekend in the books, the Tigers will continue play next weekend as they start a three-game homestand against Rutgers on Friday. Certainly, they can only feel encouraged by their strong second-half performance against a more-than-capable Fordham team.

“[Against Fordham] it was nice to be able to match up to teams that are probably more comparable to the teams we will play for the rest of the season,” Chow said. “I think that we learned a lot more in the second game about what we can do.”