Frosh nets four in blow out victory

As the saying goes, when it rains it pours. The women's soccer team, having suffered scoring woes this season, unleashed the full force of its frustration on two unfortunate foes this past weekend. After a 3-0 victory over American on Tuesday, Princeton (6-7-1 overall, 1-4-0 Ivy League) gave a 5-0 thrashing to visitor Harvard (3-11-1, 2-3-0), for an impressive total of eight goals this week.

The balance was broken early in the game, when freshman forward Vicki Anagnostopoulos got on the scoresheet in the ninth minute. Freshman midfielder Lauren Thomas fed in a delicate through-ball that looked as if it was about to be cut off by the Crimson defense, but the defender failed to clear the ball in time and Anagnostopoulos punished the visitors with a tap-in past Harvard goalkeeper Lauren Mann.

After securing the lead, it was a comfortable game for the Tigers. There were some audacious uses of through-balls and lobs and many short, compact passes. A magnificent example of this style was displayed in the 26th minute, with a magical lob pass to a Tiger attacker lunging into the penalty box from the left. The ball was perfectly timed, beating the bewildered Crimson defense. Unfortunately, the shot sailed just over the bar, delaying the second goal for a few more minutes.

Harvard never really threatened the Tigers' lead. Most of its attacks in the first half came from the right side, as it drove in and blasted a cross or a shot, or from the center, as the Tigers occasionally failed to shut out space in the middle of the field and gave up long-range shots.

There was, however, a dangerous moment for the Tigers in the 29th minute as a cross flew in from the right and looped over the heads of the Princeton defense. Junior goalkeeper Maren Dale managed to reach out and snatch the ball in midair, but fractions of a second later she dropped the ball as she hit the ground. It looked as though the charging Crimson forward would find the net to equalize, but the Princeton defense got the ball first and was about to clear when the referee called foul on the visitors.

The Tigers kept their composure, however, as they went on to score their second goal of the night at 33:24. Sophomore midfielder Aarti Jain squared the ball from the right, and junior midfielder Diana Matheson received the ball from inside the penalty box, slotting it in the right-hand corner of the net for her eighth goal of the year.

Princeton resumed its hunt for goals after halftime, and it was then that freshman Anagnostopoulos stepped up and put the pressure on the visitors. At 3:42 into the second half, Anagnostopoulos received a ball from Matheson and struck a pile driver past the helpless goalie. She struck again within seven minutes from the left on a ball from Thomas, and it was deja vu for the Crimson as the same play finished off the powerless visitors 33 seconds later.

Despite the imminent loss, however, Harvard didn't shut down and play only defense for the remainder of the game.

"They were still going at it after the goals," Anagnostopoulos said. "I gave them credit for that. Harvard did not give up the whole game."

Princeton outshot the Crimson 20-13 while also leading in corner kicks, 4-1. Mann recorded four saves, and substitute goalkeeper Maggie Robinson made three in mop-up duty. Dale had seven saves for the Orange and Black.

The Tigers' recent performances have certainly been explosive, a result of the resilience the team displayed after going through a four-match losing streak broken earlier this week against American.

"Everyone was very excited," Anagnostopoulos said. "I thought the energy was so great, and everything clicked. We just came out to win and we dominated."