Women's soccer to host Boston College in NCAA Sweet 16

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Women's soccer came into the tournament with one formation and one focus. Since then, Princeton (17-2) defeated its first two opponents in the NCAA championships and has gone further than it ever has in its five previous appearances. The Tigers will host Boston College in the Sweet 16 this Saturday at 6 p.m. at Lourie-Love Field.

"We're going to keep playing the way we have been," sophomore defender Christina Costantino said. "We've been keeping our bodies in shape, preparing for the Sweet 16. This is just another game. There's no reason why we shouldn't win."

Princeton has played with a 4-4-2 formation thus far in the tournament and it has yielded positive results. The Tigers walked all over their first opponent Central Connecticutt State, 5-0, led by a two-goal, two-assist performance from senior forward Esmeralda Negron. The game was expected to be a closely fought battle. But with purpose and precision, Princeton utterly dismantled the Blue Devils.

In the second round, Princeton dominated all parts of the field. The Tigers outshot Villanova, 24-3, but had trouble finding the back of the net, in large part due to the incredible performance by the Wildcats' keeper Jillian Loyden, who had 10 saves for the game.

"In our last game, we could not finish," Costantino said. "We had to go overtime even though we outshot them. The key [in the Boston College game] is going to be to put the ball in the back of the net in the first couple of minutes. We don't want to have to come back from anything."

Against Villanova, Princeton closed out its 1-0 win in the second overtime with a banana shot by junior midfielder Maura Gallagher. Gallagher steamed the ball in off a corner kick that came in low and deflected off a Wildcat defender's foot.

With the 4-4-2 formation, the Tigers have been able to put junior midfielder Romy Trigg-Smith up in a position to score. The change has put more pressure on the opponents' defense and has bridged the gap between Princeton's defense and offense. Senior defender Elizabeth Pillion has been put to good use marking the most dangerous forward on the other team.

"One of our marking backs —Pillion — has been playing a sort of floating position," Costantino said. "She's one of our best marking backs, fast as hell, a great player. No one can get past her."

The stars seem to be aligning in the Tigers' favor this weekend since the team is undefeated at home this season. Princeton has also not lost a game in which it has scored, so a goal early on in the game could make the difference. Both Tiger losses this year were shutouts.

"Earlier in the season, we were sort of a second-half team," Costantino said. "Lately, we've been able to put it away a lot sooner and continually go at them, and it's really worked for us.

"This is the farthest we have gone in the six years we have been in the NCAA tournament. A big focus on our team is to do what we've been doing right so far. Boston has upset some teams this season and last, and they deserve respect. But the crowd's going to be great [on Saturday]. It doesn't get much better than that."