Perfect w. soccer season to be put on hold against Harvard

Women's soccer's No. 15 national ranking may frighten some of its opponents. But even though it is the weekend before Halloween, it is a sure bet that Harvard, which comes to Lourie-Love Field tomorrow evening, will not be scared of the Tigers.

The Crimson have already played some of the top teams in the country this season, and while they haven't yet beaten a Top 25 opponent, they've demonstrated that they have the ability to play with any team in the country. Princeton can beat Harvard (6-5-1 overall, 2-2-1 Ivy League) tomorrow — but Harvard will be working hard to make sure that doesn't happen. Ivy League soccer is characterized by considerable parity of talent, and the Tigers can never afford to take a league opponent for granted. This fact is especially true with Harvard.

Many of Princeton's opponents are facing their toughest competition of the season in the Tigers. This is not the case for Harvard, which has already played three Top 25 teams, including No. 5 Portland and No. 10 Penn State, though the Nittany Lions were ranked No. 6 when Harvard faced them. The Crimson lost both of these games, 2-1, but by keeping the games close, they demonstrated that they can play with the top teams in the country.

Tomorrow's meeting carries a lot of weight for Princeton for two reasons. First, at 12-0-0 (5-0-0 Ivy), the Tigers are still undefeated and untied — the only remaining Div. I women's soccer team to boast a spotless record. A perfect season will be theirs if they can pull off these last 5 games.

More importantly though, a win tomorrow would give Princeton the outright Ivy title for the season. This has been a major goal for the team this year, and achieving it would not only mark the Tigers' third straight Ivy title but the first outright title in program history. Last year, Princeton shared the title with Dartmouth and Penn; in 2000 the Tigers also shared with Dartmouth. Before that, Princeton's only other title was shared with Brown way back in 1982.

Beating Harvard would also be a powerful statement of Princeton's ascending dominance over the league. When the Tigers beat the Crimson last season, it was the first year Princeton had won the matchup in head coach Julie Shackford's tenure. Harvard won the league championship outright four times in the 1990s. Since then, under Shackford's leadership, the Tigers have climbed up through the league and, this year, through the national rankings.

"Harvard has always been one of the biggest games of our season. There is no team I would enjoy beating more than Harvard, and I thoroughly enjoy beating every opponent we play," senior defender Kelly Sosa said.

At this point the Tigers can't afford to take any team for granted, but that's not even a temptation with Harvard. Princeton knows it will be in for a challenge – a challenge it feels up to, but a challenge nonetheless.

"They have some very gifted attackers and a well-balanced team overall," Shackford said. "They will be solid in every spot.

"They are, as always, a solid team, and we'll need to put together a 90-minute effort, but I have confidence if we continue to do the things we've been doing well, we will be successful," Sosa said.