Negron led women's soccer on magical run to Final Four

On a cold and windy day in late November on Lourie-Love Field, senior forward Esmeralda Negron and her teammates on the women's soccer team did the unthinkable. With a 3-1 victory over the Washington Huskies, the Tigers reached the College Cup — women's soccer's Final Four — and became the first Ivy League program to do so.

Fittingly, it was Negron who scored the winning goal on that day, her 20th of the season, taking the return end of a give-and-go from junior forward Emily Behncke and burying a shot in the right corner of the net. A few minutes later, Negron lofted a flawless crossing pass that senior midfielder Kristina Fontanez redirected into the goal to give Princeton all the insurance it would need.

Such virtuoso performances were commonplace for Negron this season, as she led the Tigers to a 19-3 overall record (7-0 Ivy League) and a No. 7 national ranking. Time and again, she dominated play and controlled the flow of the game with a mixture of keen field vision, potent scoring ability and often breathtaking speed and athleticism.

Though Princeton's Cinderella run through the NCAA tournament ended with a loss to UCLA in the national semifinals, the season will go down in history as one of the greatest by any Orange and Black team in recent history. A plethora of new team records were set, including the highest single-season win total.

Meanwhile, Negron earned more than her share of individual marks: goals in a season (20), assists in season (12), points in a season (52), goals in career (47), points in a career (111) — you get the picture. Not surprisingly, she was named first-team All Ivy League for the third consecutive year, Ivy League player of the year and, finally, a first-team All-American.

For all those accomplishments, the 'Prince' is proud to name Esmeralda Negron its Female Athlete of the Year.