W. soccer opens NCAA tourney vs. Central Conn.

Senior forward Esmeralda Negron carried the ball upfield, played it out to the right after the Penn keeper came out of the box and sent it into the back of the net over the diving goalie's body. This goal completed women's soccer's dominating 4-1 win over the No. 2 Quakers and placed No. 12 Princeton into history as the first Tiger squad to go 7-0 in the Ivy League.

But the last win of the season did more than set the team into Princeton's annals; it also vaulted the team into position to take the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. After an unexpected 1-0 loss to Colgate in the final days of the Tigers' regular season that downgraded Princeton from No. 8 in the country to No. 12, the Tigers' status in the NCAA tournament this year looked a little uncertain. But with its assertive win last weekend, Princeton is now higher in the rankings than its ever been heading into its five tourney appearances in the last five seasons.

The Tigers (15-2 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) will host Central Connecticut State (11-9-1, 7-3-1 Northeast Conference) in its first-round game at Lourie-Love Field tonight at 7:30 p.m. after Yale plays Villanova at 5 p.m. The winner of each game will play the other winner on Sunday at 1 p.m. — also at Lourie-Love.

The Blue Devils are the Northeast Conference champions for the third straight year after a shootout win over Sacred Heart. Last season, the title win was won over the Pioneers in a 6-5 shootout. This season, Central Connecticut beat them, 4-1, in the shootout.

This is their third straight showing at the NCAA tournament, and the Blue Devils are looking to improve upon their second-round dropout last season. Central Connecticut blew past Boston College last season in the first round before falling to UConn, 3-2, in a double-overtime heartbreaker. UConn went on to become the runner up at the tournament.

The Blue Devils are led by a double offensive threat in Kelly Shimmin and Jessica McCavanagh. Shimmin has lead the team in scoring for the past two years. She holds the school's season assist record and has been named NEC Player of the Year twice.

McCavanagh is a sophomore but created a lot of excitement for Central Connecticut last season when she made NEC Rookie of the Year. She started all 16 games, scored 11 goals and made four assists – making her the No. 2 in assists behind Shimmin and tied for No. 1 in goals. She leads the team this season in goals with 12 and has made seven assists. Shimmin and McCavanagh have combined for 22 goals and 15 assists for the season.

This will be Princeton's first meeting with Central Connecticut, but the Tigers have several things going for them.

The teams have had two common opponents this season: Hartford and Yale. Both teams defeated Hartford by four-goal margins, but the Blue Devils fell to Yale, 2-0, while the Tigers shut the Elis out, 3-0.

Princeton has not lost a single home game this season and currently holds the school record with 15 straight home wins. The Tigers have also set the school record for wins in a season. The previous two times the Tigers have hosted NCAA tournament games, they defeated their first-round opponents. If Princeton defeats Central Connecticut this round, it will face Yale or Villanova — both teams that the Tigers have shut out this season.