W. soccer win streak hits six

Playing at times what seemed like a 90-minute game of keep-away, No. 11 women's soccer (3-0 Ivy League, 10-1 overall) posted its largest margin of victory to date last night in a 7-1 embarassment of American (3-1 Patriot League, 10-2-1 overall).

The win extended Princeton's school-record home winning streak to 12 straight.

Princeton's dominant midfield, led by freshman standout Diana Matheson, helped it control the ball from the first whistle and led to a game which took place almost entirely in the Eagles' side of the field.

The scoring started for Princeton early on and never stopped. Just 11 minutes, forty four seconds into the match, junior forward Maura Gallagher knocked in the first goal of the game off a long assist by junior midfielder Romy Trigg-Smith, breaking in a net that would see plenty of action.

Within seconds after play resumed following the goal, the aggressive Tigers had stolen the ball from American's forwards, and were pressing to the Eagles' goal again. Moments later, a mere twenty five seconds after the first goal, senior midfielder Elizabeth Pillion rocketed a drifting pass by senior forward Esmeralda Negron past American goalkeeper Allison Doyle to put Princeton up 2-0. It was all they would need.

The Orange and Black took the ball back again, though, and continued the offensive pressure for the rest of the game, with one exception.

A free kick was awarded to American 18:45 into the game, taken by Annette Scott. Her arcing drive was misread by Tiger junior goalie Emily Vogelzang, who took off early to reach what would be the first ball in the game to come within 50 feet of her. Unfortunately for her, the ball flew past, and American's Marcela Rucipero was in place to head in the goal, giving the Eagles their only score of the game. Head coach Julie Shackford attributed the mistake to "a loss of focus."

Princeton's offense continued to pepper the goal with shots throughout the night, eventually outshooting its opponent 25-5. Heading into halftime, the Tigers had taken a 3-1 lead on a one-touch goal by senior midfielder Janine Willis following a beautiful assist by senior forward Christina Fontanez.

The second half would see the rout continued, with goals coming from Negron — who notched three assists in the game — Gallagher, sophomore forward Amanda Ferranti, and junior midfielder Maija Garnaas, as Shackford took the opportunity to give playing time to many players not typically in the rotation.

"So many of these kids work so hard," Shackford said, "[that] it's nice to be able to reward them."