Last year, the women's soccer team spent 120 minutes trying to defeat Yale, and was unable to come up with the win, settling for a dissatisfying tie.
This year, getting the win took only two minutes.
Saturday night in New Haven, Conn., the Tigers (3-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) scored two goals during a span of 1:59 in the first half, defeating Yale (3-2-1, 0-1) in their first Ivy League contest, 2-0.
"It feels great to have that first Ivy win behind us," junior defender and captain Kelly Sosa said. "All games are important, but league games are life and death."
Against a Bulldog squad that had averaged four goals per game this year, the Tiger defense held strong — continuing its string of shutouts on the season. Yale's dangerous attack boasts four of the top six scorers in the Ivy League.
Scoring touch
In this game, however, it was the Princeton offense that made the difference. Yale outshot the Tigers, 14-10, but the more efficient Princeton team was able to convert its shots into goals.
The Bulldogs, on the other hand, were foiled by senior goalkeeper Jordan Rettig, who had four saves to keep her goal-against average perfect at 0.00.
The Eli goalie was less successful. Sophomore forward Krista Ariss started off the scoring at 12 minutes, 20 seconds in the first half. Ariss was second on the team in scoring last year as a rookie. With her first goal of the season in the Ivy opener of her second season, she started up where she had left off.
Less than two minutes later, senior forward Tanya Kalivas netted her second goal of the season, increasing the Tigers' lead.
Princeton, which in past years has struggled with scoring, was pleased with the quickness and effectiveness of its attack.
'A big step'
"It was great that we came out so quickly," Sosa said. "Our offense was able to keep the pressure off our defense for the first half. We were able to put the team under early and that was a big step."
Both teams came into the game undefeated, and both are expected to contend for the Ivy title, along with Harvard and Dartmouth.
With this win, the Tigers got a leg up on one of their main opponents within the league. Yale must now play catch-up the rest of the season, hoping that another Ivy opponent defeats Princeton.
Last year's contest between the two teams went to two sudden-death overtimes, ending in a tie. The 120-minute, 2-2 battle left the Tigers undefeated in league play. This year's win is just the first step on the long road to a potential Ivy League title and an NCAA tournament berth for Princeton.
The Tigers return to action Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., where they take on Lehigh, hoping to keep their focused defense primed for another critical Ivy matchup next Saturday at home against Dartmouth.
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