Shackford lifts women's soccer

With only one regular season game left to play, women's soccer (13-2-0 overall, 6-1-0 Ivy League) has amassed quite a list of achievements this fall, including an NCAA tournament bid and at least a share of the Ivy League title. And though they dropped off the national rankings this week after suffering two tough losses, they'd been ranked as high as No. 15 in the coaches' poll.

A high level of achievement has been the program's standard for the past couple of years — a trend continued and improved upon by this year's 12-0-0 start. But it was not always thus. Eight years ago, when head coach Julie Shackford arrived to take on the top position, Princeton women's soccer was a very different program, with only one winning season in the past five years.

The team's newfound success did not come overnight. Throughout her tenure Shackford has slowly but surely engineered quite a turnaround.

The Tigers' record under Shackford is 87-45-6, including the current season. In 2000, the team won its first Ivy title since 1982, and the Tigers have repeated as co-champions both years since. Now, having climbed from the bottom to the top of the league, the Tigers are starting to stake a claim on the national scene.

Shackford has taken Princeton to three straight NCAA tournaments, after a 16-year absence. With the Tigers' opening-round victory over Loyola in 2001, Princeton recorded its first NCAA tournament win since 1982. This year, the Tigers hope to take the program even further by progressing to the third round of the tournament or beyond.

Senior defender Kelly Sosa cites a number of reasons why Shackford has been so effective – including her success in recruiting.

"The quality of each recruiting class has gotten better and better as the team has developed. This is due to Shack's ability to draw people to Princeton and their faith in her as a top-level coach, as well as the work ethic she has established," Sosa said.

Indeed, Shackford's most recent recruits have already begun to make contributions. The current freshmen, including offensive standouts midfielder Emily Behncke and forward Maura Gallagher, were ranked the No. 16 recruiting class in the country by Soccerbuzz.com. The sophomore class includes two of the team's leading scorers – forwards Esmeralda Negron and Kristina Fontanez – and two anchors of the team's stalwart defense, Canadian national team members Rochelle and Janine Willis.

It's not that Shackford has just had exceptional luck with recruiting in the past two years, though. In addition to its younger stars, the team has outstanding players from all four classes, such as last year's Ivy League Player of the Year, senior defender Heather Deerin. In fact, the team is so deep that virtually all of its roster sees playing time.

Shackford, a three-time All-America selection in college, came to Princeton from the head coaching position at Carnegie Mellon, where she had built the new women's soccer team into a winning program.

"Obviously I had hoped that based on the success of other teams at Princeton, I would have the support and environment to help build a strong program," Shackford said. "I think it has developed literally one step at a time."

Shackford said that she has received a lot of support from her assistant coaching staff, including current assistants Ron Celestin and Seth Korman. Also, she said that many of the coaches of other sports at Princeton "have been instrumental in helping me learn how Princeton works, as well as providing great coaching insight."

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But, she added, "besides all the external support, I am an ultra competitor at heart and hate to lose at anything I do! I think this mentality has fueled me into working as hard as I can to improve the level of the program.

"I also really enjoy and embrace our student-athletes. They are a special group – incredibly bright, motivated, and talented – and they have taught me so many things over the years.

"I still have a lot to learn but am passionate about soccer and coaching. I can't think of a better fit for me and just hope that our program can continue to do well."

Should the team advance beyond the first or second round of this year's NCAA tournament, Shackford may not be able to travel with them. The tournament begins Nov. 15, and Shackford, who already has a two-year-old daughter, is pregnant with twins due in early December.

But that shouldn't be too much of a problem for the team. The assistant coaches, as well as the players, are well aware of this possibility, and prepared to deal with it if necessary. Besides, Shackford's motivating spirit will certainly be with the team even if she can't.

"Her ability to motivate the team and overall knowledge of the game has given us the confidence that we can take it to the next level, and we have," Sosa said.