Surging Tigers visit slumping Bears

For the women's soccer team, every Ivy League game now potentially determines the fate of the Tigers' entire season. Having dropped its league opener to Yale before defeating Dartmouth last weekend, Princeton needs a win to stay in title contention, while a loss could well have the Tigers playing for "moral victories" or respectability for the rest of the season.

On Saturday, Princeton (3-4-2 overall, 1-1-0 Ivy League) will play another must-win game when it travels to Providence, R.I., to take on Brown (4-7-0, 0-2-0).

The two teams appear to be heading in different directions as of late. The Tigers have won two straight, and the offense has finally awoken from its early-season aestivation. During those two games, the Tigers scored a total of six goals, only one fewer than they scored during the first seven games of the season.

The Bears, however, have lost three straight games, during which they only managed two goals, both coming in a double-overtime loss to Columbia. Furthermore, the losses have had somewhat of a heartbreaking nature for Brown. They have all been by a single goal, just like three salmon slipping through the paws of the Bears. If momentum alone determined the outcome of the game, then a Tiger victory would be a pretty safe bet.

Still, the Tigers will need to continue their strong play in order to compete with a physical Brown defense, which has already garnered five yellow cards on the season. Also, Brown goalkeeper Hilary Wilson has been stingy this season, allowing only 1.13 goals per game, presenting the Tigers with a tough shield in front of the net.

To break past Wilson, Princeton's offense will likely rely heavily on senior forward Emily Behncke and sophomore midfielder Diana Matheson, as the two captains have been responsible for the vast majority of the Tiger goals this season. Behncke leads the team with six goals and two assists, while Matheson has four goals and a team-leading three assists. Against Dartmouth, Matheson scored once unassisted before assisting on a goal by Behncke.

The offensive success of these two, however, is well-noted in opposing scouting reports, and Brown will most likely try to shut them down through high pressure and double teams. The defensive focus on this duo creates a need for another offensive threat, something the Tigers have been sorely lacking this season. Any goals produced by the other Tigers will be a most welcome surprise and could take the pressure off Behncke and Matheson, in turn making them even more dangerous.

The Brown offense is a bit more balanced, as three players lead the team with seven points each. Forwards Kathryn Moos and Lindsay Cunningham each have three goals and one assist, while defender Kim LaVere has two goals and three assists.

But the Bears will face a Princeton defense that is finally beginning to gel. Freshman Taylor Numann, sophomores Meredith Wall and Lisa Chinn and senior Romy Trigg-Smith have held opponents scoreless for the past 206 minutes of play, thanks in large part to Trigg-Smith's veteran leadership for the younger players. The Tigers also appear to have found a starting keeper in sophomore Maren Dale, who has played well during the last three games, recording four saves total in the last two.

Since the season is only halfway done, this game is not quite win-or-go-home for the Tigers. But with Yale sitting atop the Ivy standings at 2-0, including a victory over Princeton, the Tigers need to win the rest of their Ivy League games to have a realistic shot at the title. That daunting task continues on Saturday.