Women's soccer earns seventh seed in NCAAs

At 4:30 p.m. on Monday, the women's soccer team got its best news since senior forward Esmeralda Negron decided to matriculate four years ago.

The team received the seventh seed for the upcoming 64-team NCAA Tournament that begins this Friday. The seed is the highest in the program's history, and five spots ahead of the team's national ranking last week.

Ranked No. 12 in the country heading into the season finale against Penn, the Tigers were fortunate that several other highly ranked squads lost in the past seven days. As a result, Princeton (15-2 overall, 7-0 Ivy League) will play host to a four-team regional that includes first round opponent Central Connecticut State (11-9-1, 7-3-1 Northeast Conference), Villanova (13-5-2, 6-4-2 Big East) and Ivy rival Yale (13-4, 5-2 Ivy League).

The Wildcats and the Bulldogs square off in the region's first game, which is slated for Friday at 5 p.m. The Tigers will then battle the Blue Devils in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. Both contests will be held on Lourie-Love Field.

Princeton has never faced Central Connecticut, a team that is making its third straight NCAA appearance. Despite their mediocre overall record, the Blue Devils won the NEC, and have earned their way back to the Big Dance. Last year the team upset Boston College in the first round before losing to Connecticut, the eventual national runner-up.

Princeton and Central Conn. did play two common teams this year, Yale and Hartford. The Blue Devils went 1-1 in those games, handling Hartford easily, but losing to Yale, 2-0. Princeton mowed over those two squads in the same weekend earlier in the season, topping Yale, 3-0, and Hartford, 4-0.

Should Princeton survive its first round game, the Tigers would next play the winner of Villanova-Yale on Sunday at 1 p.m., also at Lourie-Love. Princeton has played both of those teams already this season, and won both contests. If the Tigers become complacent, however, a rude awakening will await.

Despite the 3-0 blowout Princeton handed the Bulldogs earlier in the year, Yale has won eight straight games and has not lost since the first week in October. The Elis have been in and out of the national rankings all season and seem to be peaking at the right time. The team's only losses were to Princeton, Harvard and West Coast powerhouses Stanford and Santa Clara. Six Bulldogs received All-Ivy honors, including three first-team selections.

Villanova is also playing its best soccer of the year. It their last game of the regular season, the Wildcats played UConn to a 1-1 tie in the Big East Championship game before losing 3-1 on penalty kicks.

The highest seed in Princeton's quarter of the bracket is No. 2 Penn State.