The men's team has fallen into a three-game slide. The women's team has registered shutouts in six of seven outings.
But today, despite their different fortunes of late, men's and women's soccer plan a similar focus on fundamentals.
For men's soccer head coach Jim Barlow, getting the first goal in this afternoon's match at FDU-Teaneck is a critical step toward "getting back on track after a few games we've given away."
For women's soccer head coach Julie Shackford, getting back to basics is also part of the gameplan for tonight's match against Delaware.
"Anytime you lose, you reevaluate," Shackford said — referring to the Tigers' heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Rutgers. "I don't feel like we lacked focus as much as execution."
Men's soccer (4-3 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) will have its work cut out for it. An attack that Barlow acknowledges to be "a little predictable" faces a major challenge in beating the Knights' junior goalkeepers, Eric Montoya and Vytas Lenkutis. The pair — who split time in net — own save percentages of 0.625 and 0.692, respectively.
Key matchup
FDU's (6-4-1) defensive core is relatively young, but junior forward Mike Nugent anticipates a physical game in front of the net. As the team's leading scorer, he senses the urgency of the game.
"We've got to feel like we can win again," Nugent said.
Nevertheless, Barlow characterized the Ivy League race as wide open, despite the Tigers' recent losing streak. Even Dartmouth — currently sitting atop the Ivy League standings — has two losses so far this season.
"We know if we can get our act together we'll be right back in it," Barlow said.
Despite the recent disappointment felt by the men's squad, the Princeton women (6-1, 3-0) are still very much eyeing a postseason run. NCAA tournament bids are awarded to both the Ivy champion and regional at-large picks, and a win over Delaware would be a big step toward securing the later.
Regardless, Princeton cannot afford to overlook a Blue Hen team that returns eight starters from a year ago. Delaware will be led by senior forward and 1999 first-team All-America East selection, Mandy Merritt, and will test a solid Tiger defense anchored by senior goalkeeper Jordan Rettig — who has a 0.944 save percentage.
'Aggressive'
"[Jordan's] gotten better every year, but it's clear she's a more vocal leader [this season]," Shackford said. "She's better in traffic and has projected herself in a more aggressive way."
Shackford has mainly attributed the Tigers' consistency on defense, however, to the importance of teamwork.
"It's the byproduct of lots of hard work," Shackford added.
Senior forward Amee Reyes and freshman standout Theresa Sherry, who leads the Tigers in scoring, will no doubt keep Delaware goalkeeper Rachel Bersin on her toes.
The Tigers' slow start against Rutgers last Tuesday set the stage for a 1-0 upset mainly caused by poor execution.
"The first half really killed us," Shackford said following the loss.
Missed second-half opportunities only added to Princeton's struggles in its only loss of the season.
With a decisive 2-0 victory over Columbia Saturday, however, the Tigers bounced back, reasserting their Ivy League leadership.
The Tigers will hit the road this weekend, when they travel to the Spider Classic in Richmond, Va. to take on Richmond and American. Princeton will then host Brown — the only other undefeated team in Ivy play — Friday, Oct. 13.
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