Women's soccer avenges last year's loss to Yale with shutout win

In terms of Ivy League women's soccer, not much has changed since the end of last year's Princeton-Yale game.

But even a small change can make a huge difference.

Last season the women's soccer team was a dominant force in the Ivy League, losing only once in the conference on its way to a league championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Yale was the only team to defeat Princeton during the regular season in 2001 — the Tigers dropped a 1-0 decision to the Elis, marring an otherwise perfect campaign.

This fall, armed with one of the best recruiting classes in the country, the Tigers entered their first Ivy contest of the season hoping to rewrite part of last year's story.

Princeton (2-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) did just that, beating Yale (0-1, 0-1), 2-0, in New Haven. The win starts the Tigers on their search for another Ivy championship and protects the team's No. 21 national ranking.

"This game was so important for us," sophomore forward Kristina Fontanez said. "Yale took away our [outright] title last year, and we had to show that they could never do that again."

The game was a very emotional one for the Tigers who were very upset over their tie with Yale for last year's Ivy championship.

"This win really helped us on our road to the Ivy title and an undefeated season," said Fontanez.

All of the scoring came in the second half. In the 69th minute, with the game knotted in a scoreless tie, freshman forward Maura Gallagher shot the ball past Yale goalkeeper Lindsey Sabel to give Princeton a 1-0 lead.

The goal came off a Tigers' corner kick, with sophomore forward Janine Willis putting the ball in play and earning the assist.

Ten minutes later, Willis' twin sister Rochelle assisted on Princeton's second goal to clinch the game. The sophomore defender's pass to classmate forward Kristina Fonatanez in the 80th minute — off a misplayed ball — sealed the win for the Tigers.

"Rochelle sent a long cross to my direction and I was fighting for it," Fontanez said of her goal. "The goalie was coming out for it and I was able to get my foot on it and lift it over her head."

Junior goalkeeper Jean Poster recorded four saves in the shutout win.

The Tigers are hoping not only to recapture the league crown, but to improve on their performance in national competition. Princeton lost to Rutgers — a team it had beaten earlier in the season — 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The team is hoping that this year all the little changes — like beating Yale — will lead to a big change at the end.

Princeton returns to Ivy League competition Saturday against Dartmouth. In the meantime, the Tigers travel to Bethlehem, PA to play Lehigh on Wednesday night. They then come home for the game against Dartmouth, and also a game against Monmouth before hitting the road again.

Last season, Princeton beat up on the Mountain Hawks by a score of 6-0. The Tigers hope and expect similar results this season.

Princeton did not have as easy a time against the Big Green, but the result was still a 1-0 victory.

Princeton is considered one of the team's to beat, for besides being the defending champs, Princeton has also returned eight of the 11 starters from last year's squad.

Scoring

P: Maura Gallagher (Janine Willis) 68:10; P: Kristina Fontanez (Rochelle Willis) 79:15.

Shots

Princeton 9, Yale 9

Saves

Princeton Jean Poster 4; Yale Lindsey Sabel 1