Heading into its first round game of the NCAA tournament against Loyola, the women's soccer team should feel pretty comfortable.
The Tigers are 15-2-2 on the season, while the Greyhounds are barely above .500 with a 9-8-2 record. The two teams' only common opponent this season was Fairfield, whom Loyola lost to, 1-0, and the Tigers toyed with, winning 4-0.
On paper, the Tigers are heavy favorites. But history shows things are not always that easy.
Last year, Princeton headed to Maryland as heavy favorites over the Greyhounds in one of the final games of the season, but the Tigers fell 1-0 after giving up a goal in the 77th minute.
Now Princeton looks for revenge tonight at 7 p.m. at Lourie-Love Field. Earlier in the day at 4 p.m., Rutgers will play Boston University in the first game of the championships.
The winners of the two games will face off in the second round at 1 p.m. on Sunday, also at Lourie-Love Field.
Princeton comes into the game on a little bit of a low after losing to Yale in its final game, 1-0. The loss forced Princeton to share the Ivy title with Penn and Dartmouth after all three teams finished at 5-1-1 within the league.
The Tigers are the only one of those three teams hosting a first-round game, and will need to use the home-field advantage to make it to the third round and a probable matchup against national powerhouse North Carolina.
Loyola is led on offense by Katie Elliot — who scored the game winner in the conference championship game which gave Loyola a berth — and Sarah Rabb who scored the goal in the Greyhounds' win over Princeton last season.
In goal, Loyola starts senior Danielle Ruppel, who in her first year as a starter has shut down the competition and performed ably in net.
If the Tigers are able to get past Loyola in the first round tomorrow, they will face much tougher competition against either Rutgers or BU.
Princeton has already notched a victory over the Scarlet Knights this season after a 2-1 win Oct. 2 in Piscataway. Princeton freshman forward Esmeralda Negron scored the first goal in that game and senior Liz Patrick netted the second before Rutgers scored with a late tally.
The Terriers would provide a different challenge for Princeton as their defense has only allowed 22 goals in 20 games.
BU also comes into the tournament with confidence as head coach Nancy Feldman shows.
"I think we have two games that are winnable," Feldman said. "I certainly think we can advance to the round of 16."
While Princeton is the top team in its bracket, it will have to play its best soccer of the year to keep the careers of its four seniors alive.
Tickets for each game are $7 for adults and $3 for students.
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