From Sweet to Elite

Numerologists worldwide rejoiced Friday night after junior forward Emily Behncke and the rest of the Princeton women's soccer team proved that the best things really do come in pairs.

With a couple of twos emblazoned on the back of her jersey, Behncke propelled Princeton past Boston College by netting a pair of second-half goals in a span of just under two minutes. The 2-0 victory in the Sweet 16 propels the Tigers into the Elite Eight, just (you guessed it) two wins away from the finals of the NCAA tournament.

"This team is so much fun to be a part of," Behncke said. "We're having a great time and we want to keep it going."

Princeton, which has not allowed a goal in its first three tournament games, will look to continue the trend next weekend against No. 15 seed Washington in the quarterfinals.

The Eagles spent most of its time on Princeton's side of the field, early on, but the Tiger defense never cracked.

Backed by this unit, junior goalie Madeleine Jackson notched her seventh shutout of the season. Her only save on the evening was a dramatic one, coming with the game still scoreless in the 78th minute. Running out and away from the goal to her right, Jackson cleared a solid shot by BC forward Kia McNeill out of danger with a foot-first slide.

In a game in which Princeton slowly came to dominate by the midway point of the first half, the tipping point did not come until the 82nd minute, when two of the Tigers' four first-team All-Ivy Leaguers hooked up for the game's first goal.

Freshman midfielder Diana Matheson dribbled between two Eagle defenders into the goal box and found Behncke to her right, directly in front of the goal, with a soft touch pass. Behncke got off a low liner that landed in the bottom-left corner of the net as Boston College goalkeeper Kate Taylor dove by in vain.

"We had been knocking on the door all game long," senior midfielder Catherine Byrd said. "I thought we dominated in the second half, moved the ball around well and had some close, near misses. It felt like it was only a matter of time before we got one in."

On a night when senior forward Esmeralda Negron could show only flashes of ball-handling brilliance while being contained by a physical Eagles defense focused primarily on stopping her, Behncke found another opportunity to be the hero one minute, 34 seconds later.

Upon Matheson's taking the ball away from a Boston College player near midfield, Behncke began sprinting down the field on the left side of the goal.

By the time a pass lofted upfield by Matheson had reached senior forward Kristina Fontanez, Behncke was directly to her teammate's right, advancing towards the goal with room to operate. Fontanez executed a quick, hard leading pass that hit Behncke right in stride, allowing her to put the ball in virtually the same spot as she had before to give Princeton a 2-0 lead.

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

"Emily had been working really hard for us the whole game," Byrd said of the team's second-leading scorer. "She battles up top, gets herself in great position, and was able to finish for us."

For the first 80 minutes of the game, the only thing Princeton had been unable to do was finish. After a 15-minute span to open the game during which it appeared Boston College would be the aggressor, the Princeton offense began to take control of the game.

First-half shots by Matheson and Negron in the 28th and 37th minutes, respectively, each flew wide of the goal to the right, while a low shot launched by junior midfielder Maija Garnaas with just over three minutes left in the half was saved by a diving Taylor.

More close calls would follow after halftime, when Princeton outshot Boston College, 11-1. Taylor kept a shot by junior midfielder Maura Gallagher from finding the back of the net in the 63rd minute with another one of her five saves in the game.

Later, in the 81st minute, the majority of the crowd of 1,822 at Lourie-Love Field became incensed when what looked to be an intentional handball by an Eagle defender inside the goal box resulted in a no-call.

Behncke would break through soon thereafter anyway, but even her star turn could not take away from the performance of an imposing Princeton defense that has thus far kept the Tigers from worrying about ever playing from behind.

"Of all the teams we've played in the tourney so far," senior defender Brea Griffiths said, "this team went at us the most. But, at this point, we believe that we can go all the way [to the NCAA title game]. We have so much confidence in ourselves, and we have gelled so well together."