Streak hits five in league victory

It looks like the grueling matchups early in the season are beginning to pay off for the women's soccer team. The Tigers (5-4-1 overall, 2-0-0 Ivy League) came out of Providence, R.I., with their fifth-straight win and a spotless Ivy record, throttling Brown (2-7-1, 0-2-0) by a 4-1 margin on Saturday.

It was another stellar game for the senior midfielder and co-captain Diana Matheson, who scored two goals and added her team-leading fifth assist of the season. Playing in just her third game of the year following her stint with the Canadian national team at the Women's World Cup, Matheson put Princeton up 1-0 in the 22nd minute, adding another goal eight minutes later to double the Tiger lead.

Despite having played in fewer than a third of the games this season, Matheson moved into the team lead in total points with nine.

Her two early goals were particularly important in a first half that saw the lowly Bears put some significant pressure on Princeton. Brown took nine first-half shots to the Tigers' six.

"I thought we came out a little flat," head coach Julie Shackford said, "but we pulled it together."

Matheson's first goal came on a give-and-go pass from junior forward Aarti Jain, which Matheson hammered into the back of the net from just inside the 18-yard box. Her second goal was another long-distance shot coming on an assist from freshman defender Marissa Sampias. The point was the first of Sampias's Princeton career.

The Tigers continued the attack in the second half, during which they were the aggressors with 13 shots and four corner kicks. Only four minutes into the second half, senior midfielder Regina Yang — who walked onto the team as a sophomore — scored an unassisted goal coming off the bench, the first of her career.

Junior forward Allison Williams scored the fourth Princeton goal of the day in the 61st minute. Off assists from Matheson and sophomore forward Marci Pasanello, Williams beat one defender and snuck it by Brown goalie Steffie Yellin when she came out to cut off the angle.

"Obviously, Diana had a tremendous game, and that was key," Shackford said. "We had good contributions from the bench with Allison Williams and Regina Yang scoring goals. Overall, it was a team effort, and we used everybody. I'm happy to be 2-0 in the league."

The Tigers played aggressively throughout the game. They had a total of 19 shots on goal and 16 fouls. While the fouls put the team at a disadvantage, they also showed the players were really going all out on defense.

With the victory, Princeton exacted its revenge against the Bears, to whom the Tigers lost in back-to-back seasons. Last year, Princeton fell to Brown 4-0.

"The level of intensity was pretty high throughout the game," Sampias said. "Everyone was working hard both on offense and on defense. We had to fight to get our first two goals in the first half, and then we had to fight to preserve our lead in the second half. I wasn't here last season, but I heard about the 4-0 loss to Brown last year, and everyone definitely wanted to get some revenge."

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The Tiger defense was very solid throughout the game, allowing just three total shots on goal. The sole Brown goal was on a Julia Shapira penalty kick in the 62nd minute, which she sent into the upper left corner of the goal.

Princeton, meanwhile, has really picked up momentum heading into a home matchup with Columbia (6-3-2, 1-1-0) next weekend on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium.

"The five-game winning streak is definitely a confidence-booster, and it is motivating to see that we have a winning record at the moment," Sampias said. "It also keeps us motivated to win more games so that we can continue having a winning record."