Women's soccer's title run goes through Cambridge

This weekend, the women's soccer team's match against No. 11 Harvard will almost certainly draw fewer spectators than the football team's game against the Crimson. But that doesn't mean the soccer game is less significant. In many ways the soccer game is much more important.

The game against Harvard pits Princeton against its toughest and greatest rival in a match whose outcome might not only determine the 2001 Ivy League winner, but also reflect the true nature of this Princeton team.

Princeton (9-1-1 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) sits atop the Ivy League with Harvard (8-1 overall, 3-0 Ivy League). The statistical parity between the teams makes this a difficult matchup to predict.

Both value and excel at defense. Excluding Harvard's 5-1 win over Boston University Wednesday, the Crimson have not allowed a goal in the past seven games. That 679:23 span is blemished only by a penalty kick in the 67th minute against Marquette. Harvard has let up just seven goals in nine games, good for a 0.80 goals against average. They have been flawless in their three Ivy League matches, surrendering not a single goal to opponents.

But Princeton's defense has put up similar numbers. Senior goalkeeper Catherine Glenn has posted six shutouts on the season, and need not bow down to Harvard keeper Cheryl Gunther — Glenn herself has given up just five goals, including only one in Princeton's three Ivy League wins. The Tigers' defense focuses on defending a zone, as in basketball, instead of each player defending a specific opposing player.

The setup requires constant communication, awareness of the position of opposing forwards on the field, and anticipation of where the ball might move.

"To be good, we have to be willing to sacrifice anything to keep the ball out of the net," junior fullback, the heart of the Princeton defense, Heather Deerin said. "If nothing else, we can't get outhustled. Defense is a priority for our whole team. For us, it starts with the forwards and goes although back to the keeper."

While defensively strong, the teams are also equipped with fast and skilled forwards that pound the net and show little mercy to the opponent's defense. Harvard's scorers dominate the Ivy League leaderboard in offensive statistics like goals and points. The Crimson's Beth Totman leads the league in points with seven and in goals with three. Harvard has outscored its opponents 23-7, while outshooting them 57-12.

But Princeton's sophomore forward Theresa Sherry nearly equals Harvard's Totman in every offensive category. In Ivy League games, Sherry has scored three goals, including two goals in a span of five minutes Sunday in Princeton's 4-1 win over Brown. Along with freshman forward Kristina Fontanez, Sherry leads the team with five goals scored this season, while the freshman Fontanez leads the team with 11 points (5g, 1a).

Though this is an important game, a loss for the Tigers certainly would not be the end of the world. Last year, Princeton was defeated 2-0 at home against the Crimson in a defensive battle, but ultimately won the Ivy League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Championships. Harvard, who finished behind Princeton and Dartmouth last season, and had just a 10-7 record, dropping its last five games, also advanced to the tourney on the strength of its schedule and quality early season wins, and reached the round of 16.

But the team does play Harvard, its biggest rival, and as such the outcome in this game is one of the defining moments for the team each season.

"The Harvard game is always a great game and there's no doubt that both teams are going to be putting everything they have out on the field Saturday," senior captain Linley Gober said. "The Princeton-Harvard rivalry is huge."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Princeton comes into the game Saturday in Harvard riding a three-game winning streak, and coming off a trip two weekends ago to California, where the Tigers lost to No. 2-ranked UCLA, 2-0, in a tight, nearly equal-matched bout. If the trip proved anything to the Tigers, it was that no opponent is too great for this team and that almost anything is possible.

"Playing UCLA and knowing that we can compete with the best teams in the country has given us great confidence for all of our games since the California trip," Gober said. "We have set a greater standard for ourselves now and we aren't going to be satisfied unless we're put forth our best effort in each of the games that we have left."