Iowa State easy prey for women's soccer

Though coming off of one of the best seasons in its history, after one game it seems that the women's soccer team has nowhere to go but up.

In a rescheduled game that took place Sept. 9 at Lourie-Love Field, Princeton demolished Iowa State, 5-0, bring the Tigers' record to 1-0 and dropping the Cyclones to 1-3. Eight Princeton freshmen saw action in the opener — including three starters — showcasing what many observers are calling one of the top recruiting classes in the country.

In fact, it was a freshmen, forward Janine Willis of Unionville, Ontario, who struck first for the Tigers just four minutes, 45 seconds into the game. Breaking free for a moment just inside of the 18-yard box, Willis fired a shot to the lower right-hand corner of the goal, out of reach of Cyclone keeper Karen Hasselman.

Willis was joined on the starting lineup by her twin sister, Rochelle Willis, and Brea Griffiths, both midfielders. Both Willis sisters practice and play on the Canadian National Team, and Griffith plays with her Canadian Provincial team in Ontario.

The Princeton youngsters were far from finished, though. After junior Heather Deerin, last year's leading scorer, notched a goal to put the Tigers up 2-0, freshmen scored the next two goals to put the game well out of reach by the early minutes of the second half. Sylvia Morelli of San Francisco tallied the Tigers third goal at the end of the first half, and Kristina Fontanez of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., tallied the fourth 12:45 into the second. A score by sophomore midfielder Joan Cundey with 13 minutes remaining rounded out the scoring.

In all, the Tigers outshot the Cyclones 18-8, forcing the Iowa State goalies to make 12 saves. Princeton keepers Catherine Glenn and Jane Poster turned away just five shots between the two of them.

Deerin, junior midfielder Jenny Skinner, and Morelli tallied assists for the Tigers.

"I'm happy with how the game went today," head coach Julie Shackford said. "I think everyone played well. It's a good way to start the season and it also shows us where we need to work."

Shackford can find room for improvement in a 5-0 victory largely because Iowa State has not provided much of a challenge for any big-name schools this year. Just last week, the Cyclones succumbed to Penn, 2-0. The Quakers have been one of the weaker teams on the Ivy women's soccer circuit in recent years.

A much tougher test awaits the Tigers this coming Saturday in the form of Dartmouth at the Dartmouth tournament in Hanover, N.H. Last year, Princeton was able to vanquish the always powerful Big Green early in the season to take a lead in the league which it would hold on to en route to its first Ivy title in Shackford's tenure as the Tigers' coach.

This year, Princeton once again takes on the Big Green early in the season and will be looking to take the early league lead once again in the first Ivy weekend of the season. The Tigers will then take on Boston University in the second game of the tournament on Sunday, also in Hanover.

While the Ivy season continues throughout the fall, Princeton's league hopes will get a strong boost with a win this weekend.