College Cup kicks off this afternoon for women's soccer

Women's soccer takes to the road after five straight games and 33 days at home to play 14-seed UCLA (17-6) in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament in Cary, N.C., at 2 p.m. today (WPRB 103.3 FM).

"I think the biggest thing we have to focus on in this upcoming game is our composure," senior midfielder Janine Willis said. "We are going to be on the road again, which means we will be out of our regular routine and have to adjust to that."

No. 7 Princeton (19-2) has yet to play a game away from Lourie-Love Field in the tournament. It has won 19 consecutive home games and is undefeated on its home field this season. The Tigers' last away game this season was a loss to Colgate on Halloween.

The Tigers have outscored their opponents in the tournament, 11-1, and 58-9 on the season. They have outshot their tournament foes, 89-19, and have recorded three shutouts in their four tournament games.

The Bruins are 16-0 in games in which they have scored first. They are 1-6 otherwise. At halftime, UCLA is 7-0 when it leads, 1-5 when behind and 9-1 when tied.

A major problem for the Tigers earlier in the season had been closing out the other team early by getting the first goal. Princeton has won every game in which it has scored, but many times the goal has come in the second-half. An early goal by either team could mean the win.

Princeton knows what it is capable of and, if it forgets, a look back at what it has been accomplished so far would be sufficient to jog its memory. Twenty-one new school records. The first appearance in the College Cup (Final Four) of the NCAA tournament by any Ivy League team. The first team to go undefeated in the Ivy League. And its fourth conference crown in the past five years en route to its sixth consecutive NCAA appearance.

A person could spend all day reading the Tigers' accomplishments, but the Bruins are no less impressive. Of the four remaining teams, UCLA is the only one yet to be scored upon in the tournament. The Bruins have outscored their opponents, 7-0, and outshot them, 69-31. They have allowed 16 goals all season while putting up 46 of their own.

There are a lot of similarities between the two teams. Both lead their respective leagues in goals, shots, points and shutouts. Both have had 12 shutouts. But numbers are by no means everything.

Princeton has 10 seniors in its lineup, the largest class head coach Julie Shackford has coached in her 10 seasons, making this year's run even more urgent. UCLA is headed by Shackford's former teammate at William & Mary, Jillian Ellis. Ellis is in her sixth season with the Bruins, and both coaches reached the 100-win mark for their careers this season.

Senior Esmeralda Negron and junior Emily Behncke are two of the best forwards Princeton has ever seen. They are No. 1 and No. 2 in school history, respectively, in career goals. Both have nine points in the tournament thus far, making them the top priority of UCLA's defense.

In the midfield, seniors Kristina Fontanez and Janine Willis, junior Maura Gallagher and freshman Diana Matheson have made themselves scoring threats as well. Fontanez has two goals in the tournament and one assist. Gallagher netted the winning goal over Villanova, and Matheson has assisted on Behncke goals in the last two games, both of which opened the scoring in their respective games.

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Little needs to be said of a defense that has only let nine goals go by all season. The Tigers have two capable goalies in senior Madeleine Jackson and junior Emily Vogelzang. They have split time fairly evenly in goal, with Vogelzang spending 989 minutes in the net and Jackson putting in 817 minutes. But the Tiger defense is anchored by its defenders more than its goalies.

The defenders epitomize what any coach would hope for in a unit: lean, mean and oh-so-good at keeping the opponents' offense frustrated. Princeton has had 19 shots taken against it in the tournament, only nine of which were on goal.

In the back, Princeton is led by seniors Elizabeth Pillion and Brea Griffiths, junior Romy Trigg-Smith and sophomore Christina Costantino.

"Obviously, making it to the Final Four is a big deal for us," Willis said. "There is just going to be so much stuff going on down there, I'm sure it is going to have our nerves up. But anybody that watches us knows [that], when we have found our rhythm, everything just flows better. We just have to hold tight until we get there."

No. 4 Notre Dame (23-1-1) and No. 16 Santa Clara (18-4-2) play immediately after the Tigers and Bruins on Friday. The winner of each game will meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the championship game.