Eagles' wings clipped

“I don’t think it was our best game in terms of how we played,” head coach Julie Shackford said, “but for a mid-week away game on the road, I thought it was great that we were able to be productive on the scoreboard.”

Unsurprisingly, senior midfielder Sarah Peteraf spearheaded the Tiger attack, tallying a pair of goals in the first half. The co-Ivy League Player of the Week struck first 12 minutes, 22 seconds into the match. After collecting the ball in the center of the field, Peteraf drove a perfect shot past American goalkeeper Arianna Efstathiou.

In the 29th minute, sophomore midfielder Kayleigh Iatarola sent a pass down the left flank to Peteraf, who buried the ball in the far corner of the net to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room.

With seven goals in nine games under her belt, Peteraf is now in a three-way tie for the Ivy League lead in goals scored.

“[Peteraf] obviously has been putting herself in really good positions to get chances,” Shackford said. “She is really dangerous if she has time anywhere inside the 18. I think it’s what you expect from a senior. She’s realizing her potential and has stepped up to finish her chances.”

Princeton refused to let up in the opening minutes of the second half, as freshman forward Barb Previ extended the Tigers’ lead to three. Previ scored her first collegiate goal when she challenged an attempted defensive clear in the 47th minute, and the deflection bounced over Efstathiou’s head from 18 yards out.

Sophomore midfielder Lauren Whatley tallied her second goal of the season less than 20 minutes later as she slid a low 10-yard shot to the near post.

American (3-9-1, 0-1 Patriot League) registered seven shots against Princeton, but sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Pont was challenged only once. Pont, who boasts a .900 save percentage on the season, is largely the reason the Tigers have not allowed a goal since Sept. 23.

“[Pont] has really stepped up this year,” Peteraf said. “Coming in, it’s a really hard position for her to be in because before the last nine games, she hadn’t gotten very many minutes. Maren [Dale ’08] was such a strong force on the team as the captain and as our goalie, so Aly had big shoes to fill. People feel really confident with her back there, which helps the defense, just knowing that even if they make a mistake we have someone there who can protect us.”

The solid, deep corps of veteran defenders, including senior defender Taylor Numann, senior defender and tri-captain Lisa Chinn and junior defender and tri-captain Melissa Seitz, has also been a huge factor in the Tigers’ success thus far.

“They just don’t want to give anything up,” Shackford said. “They battle, they’ve been organized, and they take a lot of pride in their defending.”

Freshman goalie Kristin Watson relieved Pont in the second half, making her first appearance for Princeton.

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The Tigers return to Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium to face Brown in their third Ivy League matchup Saturday at 4 p.m. The win against American was productive in terms of scoring, and Princeton is hoping the high output will be a promising sign of what’s to come this weekend against their league rival.

“I think that we came in there knowing that this was a game we had to put away,” Peteraf said. “A lot of our games have been 1-0 games or decided by one goal, so we were just trying to widen that margin and gain a little bit of confidence, especially before the game this weekend against Brown.”