W. soccer's defense is stifling opponents

Take advantage of your time at Princeton. Take a class taught by Toni Morrison. Go hear one of the world-renowned guest speakers that the university brings in. Stroll through the footpaths and enjoy the beautiful colors of autumn.

But if you're really busy, and you do nothing else in your college career, go see a women's soccer game this year. Your next chance is tomorrow night at 7:30, when Princeton takes on Penn at Lourie-Love Field.

When asked how she compares this year's squad to past teams that she has managed, head coach Julie Shackford laughed dismissively, as if the question was a foolish one.

"This is by far the best team I've had here," Shackford said. "In terms of talent and depth, these guys are at the top."

And if you saw last Tuesday's game against Rutgers, you know exactly what she is talking about. The Tigers dominated the Scarlet Knights all over the field in a rematch of last year's second-round NCAA matchup. First to the balls on the ground, and first to the balls in the air, Princeton maintained possession and controlled the pace of play throughout.

With the win, the Tigers improved to 10-0-0 on the season. They are one of just two Div. I teams remaining who are both unbeaten and untied.

Heading into the Rutgers game, Princeton was ranked No. 18 in the country by SoccerBuzz. After Tuesday's performance, the team will no doubt move up a few places when the new rankings come out next week.

While the Tigers have played well all season, the Rutgers match showed how far the team has come from a technical standpoint. The backline in particular maintained great spacing and positioning, allowing the Scarlet Knights little room to maneuver and regularly forcing open-field turnovers.

With sophomores Janine and Rochelle "Rocky" Willis on the outside and sophomore Brea Griffiths and senior captain Heather Deerin on the inside, the defense excelled in one-on-one containment. Despite the line's relative youth, they all played with the composure of veterans. Rather than diving in, the line remained disciplined and the defense was able to either wait for a clear opportunity to step in, or wait for defensive help.

The Tigers played cohesively as well. Any time the Scarlet Knights appeared to have the numbers, the defense dropped back, with a second defender always giving support to the on-the-ball defender. That positioning allowed for easy double teams and it cut down Rutgers' passing lanes as well.

But if this team is to make it as far as some think it can, it will need solid play from all 11 positions. One of the biggest question marks is junior goalkeeper Jean Poster. While Poster has played well thus far — she even stopped a penalty kick late in the second half with the Tigers up one against Boston University — she still lacks experience in net.

Coming into the season, Poster had played just 104 minutes in her career. While Poster has played nine full games thus far this season, the Tigers' tenacious defense has let up, on average, less than five shots per game.

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"Jean played well tonight," Deerin said after the Rutgers match. "She's in a tough spot because she doesn't have to face that many shots. But the shots that she does face are always tough ones."

If, as predicted, Princeton does advance to the NCAA tournament, Poster will likely see more and better shots. How the junior reacts in those tough games may very well dictate the Tigers' postseason fate.

For now, everything is rosy in Tiger country. Already more than halfway there, the team is surely gunning for the first perfect regular season in the program's history. To do that, however, Princeton still has to go through tough conference games against Harvard and Penn, a trip down to Virginia to take on William & Mary, and a showdown in Philadelphia against No. 25 Villanova.

The team is being careful not to look too far down the road, or get swept up in the camaraderie of winning.

"We're trying not to get caught up," Shackford said. "We don't want to get complacent."

Deerin echoed Shackford's sentiments.

"At this point in the season, we are already where we were at the end of last year. But this team is getting better. We're still improving and we can improve a lot more."