Brown stuns women's soccer in Providence

Sometimes, the odds just don't go your way. That's what women's soccer (3-5-2 overall, 1-2-0 Ivy League) must be telling itself after Saturday's 2-1 loss to Brown (5-7-0, 1-2-0) that landed it in the cellar of the Ivy League.

Despite the fact that the Tigers outshot the Bears, 22-7, the loss marked the first time Princeton has lost to Brown since the 1997 season.

Despite peppering Bears goalkeeper Hilary Wilson with shots all day long, the only ball that slipped through was from freshman forward Aarti Jain. Coming on an assist from senior midfielder Maura Gallagher late in the second half while the team was down 2-0, it was the first goal of Jain's collegiate career and made her only the fifth player on the team to score this year.

"It was a really great feeling [to score a goal]," Jain said. "But I couldn't really think about it too much, because we just had to concentrate on getting the win."

Though the Tiger squad came into the game riding a streak of two consecutive shutout wins and took control of the ball early, it was Brown who scored first. At 17 minutes, 49 seconds into the first half, in the Bears' first shot on goal all game, Kathryn Moos slipped a ball along the goal line past sophomore goalie Maren Dale, which was quickly deposited in the net by Lindsey Cunningham.

The goal ended Dale's scoreless streak in front of the net at 223 minutes and prompted head coach Julie Shackford to pull her at halftime in favor of senior Emily Vogelzang for the second half.

Brown would only take four more shots all half, with only one, another shot by Cunningham, coming close and deflecting off a post, and none of them requiring a save by Vogelzang.

The action was on the Bears' side of the field all game. In the first half alone, Princeton recorded four corner kicks and 12 shots. The Tigers forced Wilson to make four saves, including a diving play late in the half that stopped a shot from sophomore forward Melissa Whitley from landing in the corner of the net. Despite controlling the ball and getting plenty of chances, luck was just not with Princeton.

In the second half, the Tigers again dominated play but continued to be bedeviled by the Brown defense and goalkeeping. The Orange and Black would take seven corner kicks and 10 shots while possessing the ball for the majority of the 45 minutes, but even with Jain's goal, it just wouldn't be enough.

While Princeton harried the Bears' defense all half, the Brown offense maximized the few opportunities it received. Only two shots were recorded all half, but one of them would be enough to give the Bears the victory. That goal came off a direct kick just outside the box, which was sent by Kim LeVere with one swift kick up and over the Tiger wall and off Vogelzang's outstretched hands to put Brown up, 2-0, with less than 15 minutes to play.

Jain's goal would come five minutes later, but the rest of her team was unable to capitalize. Notable was the lack of production from senior forward Emily Behncke. Behncke singlehandedly took as many shots as the entire Bear squad, yet the team captain and scoring leader failed to find nylon on any of her seven attempts.

The loss may eventually mark the low point of Princeton's season. Presented with an opportunity to finally bring its record to the .500 mark while playing a league opponent in the midst of a three-game losing streak, a win would have put the Tigers in a solid position. With the loss, Princeton has lost nearly any chance of repeating as Ivy League champion and now faces an uphill struggle just to make the NCAA tournament that it came two games away from winning last season.

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"I wouldn't say confidence is down on the team," Jain said. "But we do know that we really have to win all our games now just to get to the [NCAA] tournament."

With only five games left on the schedule, this team must find a way to put the pieces together and play consistent soccer for 90 minutes every game if it hopes to salvage its season.