No. 12 Tigers shut out both opponents in opening two rounds of NCAA Tournament

Second round of the NCAA tournament. Double-overtime. Next goal wins. Just one win away from the Sweet 16. Just one goal away from the Sweet 16.

The energy in the stands was electric. Somehow, the fans already knew what the women's soccer team had yet to realize.

Junior midfielder Maura Gallagher was lining up to take the Tigers' eighth and her fifth corner kick of the game, three minutes, 10 seconds into the second overtime. The ball sailed in low, curving into a crowd of players bunched in front of the goal. Amidst the confusion, it was deflected into the left side netting of the goal.

"It was something we knew should happen," junior midfielder Romy Trigg-Smith. "It would've been devastating if it didn't. It would've been awful if we would've had to have gone into penalty kicks, which is about luck, after such a one-sided game."

The conditions were sloppy. Sun hitting the eyes, wind making passing and shooting unreliable, and a muddy mess of a field reminiscient of the rain and cold two days earlier.

But the crowd of fans in the bleachers was ecstatic once the ball hit the net. The fans behind the goal, who had been moving to and fro throughout the game to cheer their team on, went ballistic. Gallagher's teammates rushed the field and piled on top of her. The Tigers were going to the Sweet 16.

Princeton (17-2 overall) defeated Villanova (14-6-2) at Lourie-Love Field on Sunday, 1-0. The Tiger squad dominated the game throughout but could not close the deal early.

A spectacular performance by Wildcat keeper Jillian Loyden combined with the containment of senior forward Esmeralda Negron by the Villanova defense hampered Princeton's ability to finish plays.

The Tigers kept the ball on the Wildcats' side of the field almost the entire first half. Senior goalie Emily Vogelzang had no saves in the first half because Villanova hardly ever got a shot off. Princeton outshot the Wildcats, 7-1, before the break.

Some beautiful chances appeared, but Loyden's great play kept the Tigers frustrated. Junior Romy Trigg-Smith rocketed a shot that banged off the post 5:31 into the game. Negron picked up the rebound, but she hit it wide. Openings like these kept coming, but nothing showed on the scoreboard at the end of the first half.

The second half saw a Princeton team determined — but unable — to score.

Again, the Tiger offensive crush dominated the game, outshooting the Wildcats, 15-1, in the half. With 20:59 remaining, freshman midfielder Diana Matheson dribbled left of the goal inside the box. Matheson shot on goal, but Loyden knocked it right. Gallagher picked up the rebound and shot, but Loyden again got in front of the ball for a deflection. Gallagher recovered the ball once more but shot it wide.

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But Villanova hadn't seen the last of it. With 17:47 remaining, Gallagher worked the ball inside the box and kicked a liner, chest-high. Loyden made a dive to her left and stuck out her left arm, making a fist and punching it out of bounds.

On the ensuing corner kick, Matheson launched the kick into a big crowd of players in front of the goal, but Loyden fought her way through and caught it.

Fans were left on their toes again with 5:29 remaining. Negron broke free of her defenders and beat the goalie in front of the net, but a Wildcat defender came out and knocked it away.

With 3:17 remaining, Princeton made another go at it. Senior midfielder Christina Constantino carried the ball upfield and launched it in the air where it found the head of Trigg-Smith, but Loyden got ahold of it before it could go in.

The second half ended with the score 0-0. The Tigers had taken 22 shots in regulation, but Loyden was the story for the Wildcats. She recorded 10 saves, not counting the times she came out and stopped it before Princeton could take a shot.

"She had an amazing game," Trigg-Smith said. "She made it really difficult putting it away."

In the first overtime, with 2:39 left, the big play was when Behncke got taken down inside the box. While dribbling just yards away from the goal, Loyden and a defender knocked into her. Only Behncke went down, and while fans were angry, no penalty was called.

Later on, with 3:38 remaining, Villanova got closer than it had, or would get all day, when Regina Villari took a shot from the right that went a hairsbreadth above the top left corner of the goal.

The second overtime went quickly. Only 3:10 in, Gallagher's corner kick dribbled into the net, ending the game but not the tournament for Princeton. "Sweet" 16 indeed.

The Tigers will now host Boston College next weekend for a chance to make the national quarterfinals.