Women's soccer takes down No. 5 Texas A&M

Coming off a season that head coach Julie Shackford characterized as "underachieving," the 2004 women's soccer team made a statement in its opening game that this season will be different. Hosting No. 5 Texas A&M (2-2) on Friday night, the Tigers showed that they could play with one of the best in the country. Princeton (1-0) shut down the Aggies defensively, thrilling the home fans with a 2-1 victory over a team that reached the Sweet 16 in last year's NCAA tournament.

Princeton grabbed the lead early and never looked back. In a connection the Tigers hope to see many times this season, freshman midfielder Diana Matheson worked a perfect give-and-go with senior forward Esmeralda Negron and banged home her first collegiate goal only four minutes, 43 seconds after the opening whistle. Matheson dribbled around Aggie defenders before dishing it to Negron, who fed it right back to the midfielder for the goal.

"This is a great way to start the year," Matheson said. "I was very excited. [Shackford] has been trying to pit [Negron] and me together. I knew I'd get a good pass from her."

Although this was Matheson's first college game, she has more experience than the typical freshman. Originally admitted as a member of the class of 2007, Matheson deferred a year to play with the Canadian national team.

"Playing at that level has given [Matheson] a solid starting point," Shackford said. "She is a step ahead of all the other freshmen."

After setting up Matheson's goal, Negron waited less than three minutes to get on the board herself. Awarded a penalty kick after junior forward Maura Gallagher was pulled down in the penalty area, Negron converted the kick for the 28th goal of her career. The forward ranks second all-time in Princeton women's soccer scoring history, and last season earned Ivy League Player of the Year, first-team all-region and third-team All America honors for her offensive exploits.

Although Negron missed another penalty kick in the second half, those two goals provided all the offense that Princeton would need. The Tigers controlled the ball throughout the game, outshooting the Aggies, 9-5.

Princeton's strong defensive play was especially impressive given that the Tigers were without two of their top defenders. Seniors Janine and Rochelle Willis were both sidelined due to injury — Janine Willis with a deep thigh bruise and Rochelle Willis with a knee injury.

"Obviously [Janine and Rochelle Willis] were a huge loss," Shackford said. "But because of our depth we have people who can step up and fill the void."

To fill the hole left by the sisters, Princeton started senior defender Elizabeth Pillion and sophomore Christina Costantino. The two helped the overall defensive effort, blanking the Aggies until only seven minutes and 32 seconds remained.

Junior goalkeeper Emily Vogel-zang did her part in the defensive effort, making three saves in the win. The best of these came in the early part of the second half, keeping the Tigers up by two goals.

The season-opening win was Shackford's 99th at Princeton, giving her more wins than any other coach in Princeton women's soccer history. She listed winning the Ivies and getting past the first round of the NCAA tournament as team goals for the upcoming season.

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"I think whenever you can make a statement like that against a top-10 team, it is always positive," Shackford said. "But it's still early and we have a lot of games in front of us."

Princeton's quest will continue Friday when it returns to action at Penn against Villanova. The game will give the Tigers a chance to avenge their loss to the Wildcats in the first round of last year's NCAA tournament.