Women's soccer shuts out Yale, Hartford on the road

Tied at halftime in their first Ivy League game of the season was not where women's soccer wanted to be, but that's exactly where Princeton found itself while at Yale. John Milton himself couldn't have imagined a worse fate than sitting in the middle of New Haven, Conn., tied 0-0 with the league leaders in shots. But words from head coach Julie Shackford managed to bring the Tigers out of their own personal hell — or Yale — and back into the light.

"The first half we didn't play our best," freshman midfielder Diana Matheson said. "[Shackford] told us, 'You gotta go out and give it your all. You don't want to have any regrets after the game.' And we ended up dominating."

Princeton (6-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) shut out both its opponents this weekend by a combined margin of 7-0 and outshot them by a combined 51-9.

This weekend marks the first time Princeton has recorded seven goals in back-to-back road games during Shackford's 10-year coaching reign. The last time the Tigers scored as many goals was in 1984.

The No. 17 Tigers started out its weekend play on Friday against No. 23 Yale (5-3, 0-1). The Elis entered the competition leading the Ivy League with 100 shots in seven games.

After a scoreless first half, in which Princeton outshot Yale, 7-2, Shackford told the team to raise the intensity and take some risks.

The Tigers did not disappoint, letting loose with five shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half, including one shot that got past the keeper but was knocked away just in front of the goal by a Yale defender. Another shot in that span — which hit the back of the net — was overturned because of an offsides call. At the rate at which Princeton was playing, it was only a matter of time.

Ten minutes, 34 seconds into the half, junior midfielder Emily Behncke crossed the ball in front of the goal, an opportunity senior defender Brea Griffiths did not let go to waste. Griffiths headed the ball in, giving the Tigers the first score of the game after over 55 minutes of play. All three of Griffiths' career goals have come from headers, and Griffiths is the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week. Six minutes later, junior midfielder Maura Gallagher increased Princeton's lead, scoring on a breakaway, her first goal of the season.

"We kept the pressure on them," Matheson said. "We probably should've finished a lot more chances, but we want to continue pressuring teams. We want to go right at them, and it's working for us."

The game was already decided in Princeton's favor, but with 6:41 remaining senior midfielder Catherine Byrd made a pass that found the foot of senior forward Esmeralda Negron to round out the Tigers' 3-0 victory.

Shackford's agressive advice was born out in the shot totals at the end of the second half, with Princeton tallying 12 to Yale's three.

Saturday's game saw the Tigers conduct their own "shock and awe" campaign against Hartford (1-6-1), outshooting the Hawks, 32-4, on its way to a 4-0 win.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Matheson began raining down the punishment on Hartford by blasting a cross from junior midfielder Maija Garnaas into the top right corner of the goal 15:33 into the game — her fourth of the season.

Negron increased the lead two minutes later to 2-0 with an unassisted goal and scored another 18:57 into the second half. Senior midfielder Kristina Fontanez put the last nail in the coffin off an assist by junior forward Emily Behncke at 76:40.

After five straight away games, Princeton plays its second home game of the season and first Ivy home game against Dartmouth next Saturday at 1 p.m. The Big Green beat the Tigers out for the Ivy Championship last season after Princeton had won the title the previous three years.

"Every Ivy [match] is so mportant," Matheson said. "We want to win them all. Each game, we see as a piece of the championship."