Princeton unbeaten at tourney

After the referee blew the final whistle on Sept. 2, the women's soccer team left the field disappointed with its 2-0 loss to Boston University (4-1-1). So when the women's soccer team left for the Penn Invitational on Friday, they were 0-1, and hungry for a win to get the season rolling.

Rainy weather forced the season opener to be hosted at Mercer County Community College's turf field instead of Lourie-Love Field, which allowed the Terriers to take advantage of Princeton's inexperience and lower fitness level. Twice, Boston University midfielders found an unmarked Lauren Basham on the weak side, giving her the opportunity to knock in goals in one-on-one situations against Princeton junior goalie Maren Dale.

The Tigers used the loss to catapult themselves to a weekend sweep of the Penn Invitational — delivering a pair of dominating performances against the University of Richmond (0-6) and Hofstra University (3-3), and putting the previous weekend's loss behind them in dramatic fashion.

Princeton started slowly Friday, allowing Richmond's Kristen Stalter the first shot of the game in the eighth minute. But that harmlessly became the first of Dale's three saves of the day, and two minutes later, the Tiger offense started to get fired up.

Princeton took six shots and four corners before junior midfielder Diana Matheson recorded the Tigers' first goal of the season.

Positioned at the top right hand corner of the 18-yard-box, Matheson ripped a shot past Spider goalkeeper Katy Hudson into the upper far corner. The Tigers hope the goal represents a new era of Princeton offense.

"Our team has always had trouble with taking shots, and so it was a nice, unexpected, right-from-the-18, just-finally-ripping-it [kind of shot]," senior defender Christina Costantino said. "We finally put it away."

The Tigers nearly put a second goal away in the first half, on a Matheson pass to freshman forward Marci Passenello, but Hudson tallied another save, diving on the ball as Passenello prepared to tap it into an empty net.

At halftime, Princeton led Richmond 14-2 in shots, and 5-1 in corner kicks. However, only three of the Tigers' shots were on frame.

After a slow start to the first half, the Tigers came out roaring in the second half. In the forty-sixth minute, Matheson snagged a pass from freshman midfielder Vicki Anagnostopoulos, and chipped it by Hudson for Princeton's second and final goal of the game.

Although Richmond threatened to halve their deficit on a thirty-yard free kick that bounced off the crossbar, the Tiger defense stopped the Spiders from converting.

At the final whistle, the Tigers had outshot the Spiders 24-6, and Dale was only forced to make three saves, to Hudson's eight.

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Princeton continued to improve on Sunday in the match against Hofstra. In only the second minute, Anagnostopoulos forced Pride goalkeeper Krystal Robens to make her first save of the game.

After some back and forth between the two teams, Matheson broke the stalemate and took a pass from sophomore midfielder Aarti Jain around her defender and, despite a partial block by Robens, Mathseon's well placed shot trickled into the net, giving Princeton the lead 1-0.

Matheson's goal remained the only score of the half, but all six of the Tigers' shots were on goal, and Dale was only forced to make one save in the first half.

Princeton's second-half effort was strong throughout the forty-five minute period, but success was only found in a flurry of goals scored in the final ten minutes of the match.

In the eighty-first minute, Matheson found senior forward Meghan Farrell at the goal line for a quick tap into the back of the net.

Less than a minute later, Farrell grabbed another pass from Matheson and put the moves on Hofstra's second half goalkeeper Krysten Farriella for another tap into the goal, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Princeton's final score came from Pasenello on a breakaway, assisted by junior midfielder Meredith Wall. Pasenello's goal should be the first of many this season.

"Marci can break down defenses with her speed," head coach Julie Shackford said.

Outshooting Hofstra 21-8, the Tigers were also much more accurate, forcing the Hofstra goalkeepers to make 9 saves. However, the percentage of on-goal shots is still low.