Offense can't match defense in loss

Unfortunately for the women's soccer team, intrastate bragging rights won't belong to Princeton (4-5-1 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) this year. The Tigers found themselves matched up against a relentless defense in Rutgers (10-1-1, 4-0-1 Big East) on Wednesday. and suffered a shutout loss, 2-0.

Princeton struggled to take advantage of the Scarlet Knights' freshman goalkeeper, Erin Guthrie. Rutgers' defenders hounded the Tiger scorers all day, allowing only four shots on goal. With such a light workload, Guthrie was easily able to shut down the Princeton offense.

On the Tigers' side, junior goalkeeper Maren Dale stopped an equal number of shots but found herself facing significantly heavier fire from the Scarlet Knights' gunners — particularly in the second half.

Princeton's best chance of truly threatening its collegiate neighbors in New Brunswick came on an attempt from within the six-yard box by sophomore midfielder Aarti Jain. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Guthrie fully extended and barely managed to deflect the shot wide of the goal.

The Scarlet Knights failed to penetrate Princeton's defensive schemes in an evenly matched first half that ended with bagels on both sides. Rutgers, however, broke out in the second half when its attackers started using their heads — in the simplest sense possible.

Freshman forward Caycie Gusman headed in a corner kick in the 67th minute. In the 81st minute, senior back Kim Brandao followed the rookie's lead and doubled the Knights' margin.

The Tigers' attack waned in the second period. Despite outshooting Rutgers 3-1 in the first half, the Orange and Black managed to get only one shot on goal in the second period. The Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, found a second wind and ended the match with an 8-4 advantage in shots taken.

Princeton has looked out of sync this season, particularly on offense. The team has already been shutout in four of their nine games, including their last two.

But there may be hope on the horizon for these Tigers. Statistically speaking, the Orange and Black have dramatically outshot their opponents by a margin of 124-84. They have scored 14 goals while allowing only 10, a discrepancy that indicates the team should be better than .500.

Inconsistency may be Princeton's true adversary. On Sept. 23, a mere four days after banging in five goals against Lehigh (5-6), the team was shut out by Yale (6-4-1, 2-0) in New Haven.

The road to an Ivy League title seems to grow ever more difficult and uncertain for the Tigers. The team must reestablish its identity in this weekend's match against Brown (5-3-3, 0-1-1) and put this loss behind them. At least Princeton can always tell itself that it has the cannon.