Women's soccer traveled to Boston this weekend aiming to prove its mettle in two challenging non-conference matchups, and did just that. After beating Boston College 1-0 on Friday, the Tigers came out on top of Boston University on Sunday.
Sophomore forward Esmer-alda Negron clinched the 2-1 victory over the BU with an overtime goal, and the Tigers returned to Princeton with their undefeated record intact. The Tigers are now 7-0-0 on the season.
Having just played Boston College two days before, Princeton was tired as it entered Sunday's game against BU (3-5-1, 1-0-0 AEC), the defending America East Conference champion. And although the Tigers dominated offensively against the Terriers —outshooting them, 18-9 — BU held its own against Princeton.
"BU was extremely organized defensively. The Terriers made it very difficult for us, winning a lot of balls in the midfield," head coach Julie Shackford said. Boston University goalie Jessica Clinton recorded 10 saves to Poster's three.
Just two days after she scored the only goal against BC, sophomore forward Kristina Fontanez stepped up again against BU. Two minutes after a Terrier goal in the 70th minute put the score at 1-0 — the first time all season that the Tigers had trailed at any point in a game — Fontanez answered with a goal for Princeton to tie things up. Fontanez now leads the team in scoring, with five goals so far this season.
Still, with the score at 1-1 the Tigers needed one more goal to take home a win and preserve their undefeated record. Although Princeton dominated the rest of the game, "the BU keeper thwarted numerous great chances [to score]," Shackford said. The Tigers were forced to play their first overtime period of the season.
But just one minute, 33 seconds into the period, Negron finished things off with her goal, putting a decisive end to what had been a tiring but rewarding weekend for the Tigers.
"We're not used to playing other conferences two games in one weekend," Negron said, "so it was pretty tough fatigue-wise. We had played a really tough game Friday against BC — they had been ranked above us. And then we ended up pulling out the win Sunday. We were favored to win, but it was a really tough game with the fatigue. [BU] battled hard and so did we. To come out with the win was really great."
Terrier head coach Nancy Feldman was impressed with Princeton's play.
"They are a terrific team," Feldman said. "They are legitimate. I think they are the best team on our schedule."
Friday, the Tigers managed to hang on to their 1-0 lead over Boston College thanks to a heroic save by junior goalie Jean Poster. Poster turned away a BC penalty kick with 2:25 to play.
Boston College (5-4-1 overall, 1-3 Big East) has been ranked in the Top 20 this season, and recently played No. 13 Penn State to a tie, so Princeton expected a challenge from the Eagles. The Tigers were outshot 12-5, but were nevertheless able to pull out the win.
Fontanez slid a pass from junior midfielder Theresa Sherry into the net 38:13 into the game for the only goal of the contest. Although the Eagles turned on the pressure in the second half, outshooting Princeton 9-3, Poster stepped up with five saves.
The Eagles, ranked No. 22 a week ago, had not lost at home in six games. Princeton was the first team to beat BC on its home turf since Rutgers last October, and also handed BC its first non-conference defeat of the season.
"We played very well against BC, and [Poster] was a hero, saving a sure goal at the far post in the second half, and saving a penalty kick with two minutes left in the game," Shackford said. "BC had not lost at home this weekend so we were pretty excited about beating them on their turf. It was a good battle."
The Tigers now head into a dense couple of weeks with a mix of tough non-conference matchups and always crucial Ivy contests. Wednesday, Princeton hosts George Mason (3-6-0, 1-1-0 CAA) — who defeated Princeton's Ivy rival Penn this weekend, 2-0. Next Saturday, the Tigers head to Columbia (1-4-1, 0-1-1 Ivy).
"We have a lot of games in a condensed period over the next two weeks and look forward to the challenge of keeping the team fresh and peaked," Shackford said. "We still think we have lots of room for improvement and want to work hard not to become complacent."
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