NCAA tourney hopes sunk in OT

The women's soccer team suffered two losses and saw its Ivy League title hopes come to a disappointing end over Fall Break after a 1-0 loss to Penn on Saturday.

Princeton (8-7-1 overall, 4-2-0 Ivy League) started off the break on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Ivy rival Cornell (4-10-0, 0-5-0), keeping the team in the Ivy League race. Senior co-captain and midfielder Diana Matheson had the game breaker in the 9th minute on a pass from sophomore midfielder Vicki Anagnostopoulos and never looked back.

The key to the game was getting many shots on goal, and the Tigers outshot Cornell 12-4 on the game. They also won the corner-kick battle, 6-0.

"It was key that we scored early, and I give credit to our defense for keeping the shutout," head coach Julie Shackford said.

The Tigers had less success against Bucknell, conceding three goals in the first half hour en route to the Bison's first ever win over Princeton.

Bucknell's Jennifer Devarics and Kelsey Johnson each had two goals, with Devarics scoring the 11th and 30th minutes and Johnson in the 25th and 72nd minutes, respectively.

Matheson converted a penalty kick, her sixth goal of the season, in the 75th minute for the Tigers' only score.

After the disappointing loss to Bucknell, the Tigers had to bounce back in an Ivy League match-up with NCAA implications against Penn. Going into the game, both teams were 4-1-0 in the Ivy League, setting the stage for an intense battle on the field.

The first half was fast-paced with the ball moving back and forth to both sides of the field. Each team only got off two shots in the first half, and the teams went to the break tied at zero.

Penn set the tempo in the second half of the game, keeping a constant offensive pressure on the Tigers' defense, which did a good job holding off the onslaught.

After a 0-0 tie in regulation, overtime ended in under three minutes when Penn's Kristin Kaiser headed in a crossing pass just past senior co-captain and goalie Maren Dale.

"The goal is still a bit of a blur," junior defender Taylor Numann said. "I'm not sure how the play developed. All I know is the ball was played deep into the corner, and a Penn attacker crossed it. I guess another girl just got enough of a head on it to put it over the goal line, but it's something I've been trying to forget."

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While it did not go Princeton's way in the end, the game was exciting throughout. There was a sense of the teams' rivalry and a feeling of what was at stake in the league and the NCAA bid.

"There was definitely a high level of intensity to the game," Numann said. "We all knew what was at stake. Beyond the Penn-Princeton rivalry and the pride, there was an Ivy championship and a bid to the NCAA on the line."

"I think the game could have gone either way. Neither team was really dangerous," Shackford said. "I thought we played pretty well in the first half, but Penn had the better of the second half mostly because they were winning balls in the midfield and putting us on our heels."

"We had a tough time getting hold of the ball and to Penn's credit, they battled really hard, especially in the midfield. I thought we did well to get out of the second half and thought with the break before overtime, we would be able to compose ourselves and come out aggressively in the overtime period."

It was the defense that really held up against the Penn charge in the second half.

"The defense was under constant pressure in the second half," Numann said. "I think we stood up to the challenge, but as soon as we broke up Penn's attack, the ball would come right back at us."

Though the Tigers have lost their Ivy League NCAA bid, they still have a chance to tie Penn for the title if Princeton wins against Yale on Sunday and the Quakers fall to Harvard on Saturday.

"We hope that Harvard will beat Penn, and we are excited to have Yale at home," Shackford said. "They have had the better of us the last two years, so we will work hard to avenge those losses. With a Princeton win and a Penn loss, we would have a share of the title. At this point in the season, it will be a great consolation for the team, and we want to do it for our seniors."