Tigers rack up first win

In soccer, the score often doesn't tell the whole story. That was the case Sunday, as the women's soccer team (1-4-1 overall) notched its first win of the season, 2-0, against St. Joseph's (2-5-0). A score of 2-0 can suggest a competitive game, but that certainly was not the case yesterday as the Tigers barraged the Hawks' goal and dominated the ball for the majority of the contest on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium.

Princeton outshot the Hawks 30-3, forcing goalkeeper Megan Bastianelli to make 16 saves. The Tigers kept the offensive pressure on throughout the game — 15 shots in the first period and 15 in the second. Princeton senior captain goalkeeper Maren Dale only had to make two saves in the entire contest.

Still, only two goals found the back of the net for Princeton.

"It wasn't one of our best games," Dale said. "I think we were struggling. But it's important for us to know when we're not playing our best game, we can still win."

The team started out a little sluggishly. It took the Tigers about 10 minutes to get their first shot off against the Hawks. They were also slightly sloppy with their midfield passing and lost some battles for the ball.

As the first half progressed, however, Princeton began to gain momentum, putting together drives with crisp passing on the offensive half of the field. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the team's big scorers were unable to capitalize on available chances.

Princeton finally broke through with a goal in the 32nd minute of the game. Sophomore forward Vicki Anagnostopoulos shot across the box, placing the ball into the left side of the goal for her second goal of the season. To set it up, sophomore forward Marci Pasenello aimed an impressive pass downfield for Anagnostopoulos.

In the 49th minute, freshman forward Alexandra Valerio crossed the ball to junior midfielder Jen Om, who knocked it into the left side of the goal. Like Anagnostopoulos, it was Om's second goal of the season.

The Tigers played a very physical and aggressive game. Princeton's tallies in both corner kicks and fouls were double that of St. Joe's, indicating that the women were not shying away from contact and kept continual pressure on the Hawks. The defense was solid throughout the game, rarely allowing the Hawk forwards to break through to the Princeton side of the field.

Compared to its stalwart defense, Princeton needs to improve on finishing on the offensive end. While the midfield and defense kept the ball on the offensive side of the field for the majority of the game, the forwards were not able to get off clean shots on goal.

"We need to be a little sharper around the goal," Princeton head coach Julie Shackford said. "When you outshoot a team 30-3, you expect to get a little more than two goals."

Dale echoed these sentiments after the game.

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"We need to learn how to defend in the offensive third of the field," Dale said. "We're still somewhat lacking in scoring in front of the goal. But it will come, and we're definitely working hard on that in practice."

Shackford was similarly optimistic about Princeton's prospects.

"I think we moved the ball well for periods of the game, but we need to be more consistent," Shackford said. "But an ugly win is better than a pretty loss. Hopefully we'll get another one going into league play."

This was the team's second home game on the turf at Princeton Stadium. Though they have been practicing often on turf, many of their away games are played on grass. The main adjustment on turf is the timing of passes, as the ball runs a little faster than on a grass field.

After winning this game, the Tigers are now 38-12-2 all-time, 23-4-1 against Philadelphia "Big Five" teams and undefeated in their last eight games versus Philadelphia schools.

The game was also Shackford's 134th win in her 13th season coaching Princeton, leaving her just two wins shy of the record held by Jimmy Reed who coached men's soccer from 1938-66.

The Tigers will host Sacred Heart at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and will travel to Dartmouth to play their first league game Saturday night. If Princeton's offense plays as well as it did against St. Joe's and more shots find the back of the net, the score likely will say all that needs to be said.