Women's soccer looks to even Ivy League record

After two weeks of Ivy League inactivity, the women's soccer team returns to action on Saturday when the Tigers travel to Cambridge, Mass. If Princeton can emerge from weekend play with a win against Harvard, it will draw its league record up to .500.

The Tigers (4-6-2 overall, 1-2-0 Ivy League) are currently tied for last place in the standings, while the Crimson (7-3-3, 1-1-2) is in the very middle of the pack at fourth.

Though Princeton has not faced off against an Ancient Eight opponent for two weeks, the Tigers have not been totally inactive. They are coming off a 4-0 shellacking of Rider, in which three seniors, forward Emily Behncke, midfielder Maura Gallagher and defender Romy Trigg-Smith, provided the goals, with Gallagher scoring twice. They were the first goals of the season for both Gallagher and Trigg-Smith, while Behncke increased her total to a team-leading seven.

Harvard comes into the match with an undefeated two-game league streak on the line. The Crimson tied Brown last weekend, and the weekend before they posted a 3-0 victory over Cornell, Princeton's companion in the Ivy League cellar.

Harvard will be out for revenge in the game, as they lost last year's contest in a heartbreaking fashion. The Crimson went up 1-0 in the 52nd minute, which appeared to be good enough for the win. But Behncke scored with 41 seconds left in the second half, sending the game into overtime, in which Esmerelda Negron '05 scored the gamewinner.

Harvard's offense is led by the tag team of midfielder Rachel Lau and forward Erin Wylie. Lau has acted as the spark plug for the offense, garnering four assists along with one goal. Wylie complements her teammate perfectly by putting on the finishing touches. She leads the team with five goals.

Overall, however, the Crimson offense is rather anemic, at times struggling even more this season than the Tigers have. Harvard has only found the back of the net 12 times this season, notching a .88 goals per game average.

The Crimson defense and goalkeeper, on the other hand, have been absolutely stifling this year, allowing only five goals on the season. Veteran goalkeeper Katie Shields, a senior, has played every minute of every game in the net. She has 62 saves, 10 shutouts and an astounding .37 goals against average.

Princeton, in contrast, has lacked consistency at the goalkeeper position, with three different goalies, seniors Madeline Jackson and Emily Vogelzang and sophomore Maren Dale, starting in the net this season. Dale appeared to have captured the starting job, opening the first three Ivy League games, but Vogelzang has resurged, playing in the second half against Brown two weeks ago and the entire game against Rider. Vogelzang leads the team with a .93 goals against average, while the others have averages of around 1.4. Combined, the Tiger keepers have only three shutouts on the season, which is also due to a young defensive unit.

After this weekend, Princeton will host Cornell next weekend before hosting Columbia the following Tuesday in the penultimate match of the season.