For only the second time in 12 years, the women's soccer team won at Columbia on Saturday afternoon. With a final score of 1-0, it was a tough match against a worthy opponent.
"It's never easy to play at Columbia," head coach Julie Shackford said. Last year, the Tigers beat Columbia in a similarly competitive match that also ended 1-0.
Although going into Saturday's game Columbia had lost five of their seven games, only one of those losses — against UC Santa Barbara — had been by more than a single goal.
The Princeton goal, scored in the 32nd minute, was the work of two very talented freshmen.
Midfielder Maura Gallagher slid down the left side, conquered a defender, and crossed the ball into the middle, where freshman midfielder Emily Behncke one-timed it into the goal. Of the 20 goals the Tigers have scored this season, 16 have been scored by either freshmen or sophomores.
Behncke's goal is her second in two games. She also scored against George Mason on Wednesday night off of a low drive into the net with six minutes remaining. The freshman has a total of four goals on the season.
Princeton (9-0-0 overall, 1-0-0 Ivy League) dominated the first half of Saturday's game, allowing very few shots.
"We were controlling the ball, and we played together very well," Behncke said of the first half.
After halftime, however, there was a perceptible drop in the quality of Princeton's play. The team seemed to become flustered.
"We let circumstances we couldn't control get to us," Behncke said. "This happened to be their homecoming weekend, we were frustrated that we didn't get some calls from the ref, and we kind of lost our rhythm."
It was during the shaky second half that the Lions had their best opportunity to score. Opportunity is all it was, however, as junior goalie Jean Poster denied the pointblank shot from seven yards out. Poster finished the game with a total of four saves.
"We ended up letting it be a little closer than it should have been," Behncke said, "but it was great to keep our streak going and leave their field with a win."
Overall, the Tigers out-shot the Lions 17-9 and were much more aggressive, amassing 29 fouls compared to Columbia's 12.
The victory is Princeton's fifth shutout of the season. With it the Tigers improve to 9-0-0 overall and join Texas-El Paso as the only remaining teams in Division I women's soccer that are undefeated and untied. Stanford, who lost to North Carolina, and Oklahoma State, who lost to Iowa State, each suffered their first loss Friday.
Princeton's next game will be a non-league match at home against instate rival Rutgers on Tuesday night. The Scarlet Knights, who defeated the Tigers 1-0 in the second round of the 2001 NCAA tournament, are the last team to have beaten Princeton.
Rutgers has had a strong start to its season. The Scarlet Knights' first three games, against Delaware, Boston University and Old Dominion, were all shutouts. They also defeated Pittsburgh and Seton Hall, and tied Villanova. The only games Rutgers has lost this year have been to No. 7 Notre Dame in double overtime and No. 10 West Virginia. Rutgers was rated eighth by Soccerbuzz and ninth by the Nation Soccer Coaches Association of America in the Mid-Atlantic Region the week of Sept. 30.
Furthermore, the Scarlet Knights will enter Tuesday's game against No. 18 Princeton charged after its most recent 4-2 victory over Georgetown, a game that kept its Big East Tournament hopes alive.
Princeton's 9-0-0 start is by no means less impressive than Rutgers'. It is the second best start in the history of the program, after only the 1980 season, when the Tigers won their first 14 games.
Scoring
Princeton: Emily Behncke (Maura Gallagher) 31:33
Shots
Princeton — 17 Columbia — 9
Saves
Princeton: Jean Poster — 4 Columbia: Erissa Aronson — 2
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