Offense comes out of hibernation in win

The cold, wet weather didn't faze the women's soccer team Tuesday afternoon as the Tigers ended their four-game losing streak with a convincing 3-0 victory over American.

With raindrops falling, Princeton's recent offensive drought ended just one minute, 15 seconds after the first whistle sounded when junior captain and leading scorer Diana Matheson found the left corner of the goal on a shot fired from outside the 18-yard box.

Matheson's score gave Princeton (5-7-1 overall, 0-4 Ivy League) its first lead since its Sept. 27 match against Loyola (Md.).

The Tigers have struggled offensively lately and have had difficulty producing scoring opportunities. Yet finding the net against American proved to be no problem as only five minutes after Matheson gave the Tigers a the lead, sophomore midfielder Jen Om received a pass from freshman forward Vicki Anagnostopoulos and sailed a shot above the goalkeeper's head to put the Tigers up 2-0.

Matheson later secured victory for the Orange and Black when she tallied her second goal of the day and seventh of the season with 13:51 remaining in the second half.

After conducting two beautiful give-and-go combination plays in the midfield, Matheson collected a pass from Anagnostopoulos and accelerated toward goal, leaving two defenders in her wake. American goalkeeper Alison Doyle came off her line to challenge Matheson, but Matheson easily beat her to the left and neatly slid the ball into the open net to lift Princeton to 3-0.

Princeton's overall attack was impressive against American, as the Tigers outshot the Eagles 11-8. The Tigers kept possession of the ball for the majority of the game and were able to use the size of the field to their advantage. Matheson and Om controlled the midfield and proved to be dangerous offensive threats. Anagnostopoulos and fellow freshman Lauren Thomas started the game as forwards and contributed significantly to the win as Anagnostopoulos tallied two assists and Thomas recorded four shots.

Head coach Julie Shackford attributed her team's success to an abundance of preparation, energy and confidence.

"We always come in thinking we're going to win," Shackford said.

She acknowledged that the Tigers have been "punished 100 percent" for all the mistakes they have made on the field throughout the season, but their willingness to fight through adversity and play with confidence during practices and games shows the resilience of this young team.

Shackford — who has already surpassed the record for all-time victories for the women's team with 130 wins and is now only six victories shy of the men's record — gives her players credit for sticking to their game plan and believing in each other.

The next test the Tigers face will be whether they can ride this wave of energy and confidence into Saturday evening's game against longstanding rival Harvard.

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Shackford said that despite the bagel still resting in the conference win column, the team is looking forward to the upcoming match.

"This game is always a battle," she said.

Both teams have much at stake in Saturday's showdown, which promises to be a display of fierce competition. With Princeton's winless Ivy League record this seasonm a victory over the Crimson would be significant for the Tigers. Harvard's last two games ended in overtime losses against Holy Cross and Ivy League rival Brown, so the Crimson will be eager to get another league win.