Women's soccer rolls to league win, stays perfect for the season

When women's soccer played Dartmouth last season, the momentum shifted back and forth until then-freshman Kristina Fon-tanez finally scored in the 71st minute.

This year's Dartmouth-Princeton matchup was quite a different game. The Tigers rolled to a 4-1 win over the Big Green at Lourie-Love Field on Saturday afternoon to bring their record to 4-0 on the season (2-0 Ivy). Dartmouth dropped to 1-3-1.

Despite what the score might suggest, Dartmouth did not play a particularly bad game and Princeton did not play an amazing game.

Dartmouth took 10 shots to Princeton's 15, and at the end of the first half the score was tied 1-1. But ultimately the Tigers were able to get the job done by building momentum throughout the second half, relying on the remarkable depth of their roster, and staying on top of the Big Green defensively.

Freshman midfielder Emily Behncke set the tone for the victory by scoring the first goal of the game at 15:59, assisted by sophomore midfielder Janine Willis.

"It was great to get a goal early," Behncke said. "It calmed everyone down."

Dartmouth came back with a goal at 30:07 when junior Lea Kiefer was able to break away for an open shot. But in the second half the Tigers took control as they maintained possession for much of the game, and sophomore forward Esmeralda Negron knocked in the gamewinner at 58:30, assisted by senior forward Krista Ariss. Junior midfielder Theresa Sherry and sophomore midfielder Kristina Fontanez clinched the win with goals at 73:31 and 81:50, respectively.

Sherry and Fontanez both scored their goals right after coming off the bench. It is indicative of the team's most dominant advantage, its depth, that head coach Julie Shackford can afford to take out offensive standouts like Sherry – the team's leading scorer for the last two seasons – and Fontanez even for a couple of minutes.

In fact, every player on the roster has seen action in at least one game this season, and almost all have played in three or four of the four games that have been played so far. Most coaches can only sub in and out – and would only want to sub in and out – when they are supremely confident of a victory. But Shackford has the luxury of being able to make frequent substitutions even against a tough league opponent like Dartmouth, with whom Princeton has shared the Ivy title the past two years.

"I'm not really one to sub a lot, but if you have these players, you can't let them sit," Shackford said.

As predicted, the team's freshmen are an important component to that depth. In addition to Behncke, freshmen midfielder Maura Gallagher and defender Romy Trigg-Smith got some playing time on Saturday. While freshman goalie Madeleine Jackson did not play against Dartmouth, she is expected to compete with junior Jean Poster for minutes in the net this season.

The team's success so far this year, and on Saturday, cannot be attributed solely to talent, however. What is perhaps a more significant factor is the extent to which these two dozen talented players are working together as a team. Prior to the start of the season, Shackford said it would be interesting to see how long it would take for the team to find its chemistry on the field. So far, the process seems to moving along quite nicely.

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"We worked really well together as a team today," Behncke said of the Dartmouth game.

But while the team is off to a great start so far, there are still five league games to play on the road to the title, in addition to non-conference matchups. Just because the Tigers were able to take care of Dartmouth this weekend does not mean that they can now relax. Penn also shared the title last year, Harvard is looking particularly strong so far this season, and even Dartmouth is still a top contender.

"Soccer is different every year," Shackford said. "It's a humbling game. I guess [Dartmouth] had a down game and we were able to get the better of them, but they're still going to beat some people.

"We're being humble. There's still a long way to go. It's a great start, so we're very positive, but we know we still have a long way to go."

The Tigers' next opponent is Monmouth, who comes to Princeton on Tuesday. Princeton's next Ivy matchup isn't until Oct. 5, when the Tigers head to Columbia.