Women's Soccer: Princeton shoots to rediscover offense

The women’s soccer team’s season has been a tale of two storylines. On one hand, the defense has played excellently and coalesced over the course of the season.

On the other hand, the offense has had some trouble finding the goal.

Looking to end their season on a positive note, the Tigers (5-5-2 overall, 1-2-1 Ivy League) head to Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday to face Ivy League-leading Harvard (6-4, 4-0). Though its playoff chances may be remote, the team still wants to put up a good showing against the rival Crimson.

Head coach Julie Shackford said that Harvard is going to provide a big challenge for her team this weekend.

“Harvard is coming into the game with a lot of confidence, coming off a huge win against Yale,” Shackford said. “This means that we have to be really tight defensively and hope that someone will finish one for us. It’s a great challenge for us.”

The Crimson is riding a six-game winning streak, with victories over Penn, Cornell, Brown and Yale. To pull off an upset, the Tigers will have to stop Harvard’s electric forward Katherine Sheeleigh, who has collected six goals and four assists on the season.

But Sheeleigh is not the only scoring threat the Crimson have. With six players who have each scored two goals this season, Harvard spreads the scoring around. The Tiger defense will again have its work cut out for it Saturday.

Shackford is aware of this fact.

“Harvard has three or four pretty athletic kids up top that can pose problems,” Shackford said.

Defensively, though, Princeton has excelled. The Tigers currently have an ongoing shutout streak of 382 minutes, eight seconds, buoyed by four straight shutout efforts. Junior goalkeeper Alyssa Pont has been impressive in the net, and, after suffering a heartbreaking loss in overtime to Dartmouth on Oct. 3, the defensive corps has seemed to gel in these past four efforts.

Though Shackford credits her goalkeeper for her outstanding efforts this season, she knows that the whole defense has played effectively as well.

“I don’t necessarily think that it’s been [Pont] alone,” Shackford said. “I think that it’s been the whole group of five.”

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But the offense has been a completely different story, one that has not been nearly as pretty. The Tigers have had plenty of chances on attack, but they have struggled to convert. Princeton has been held scoreless in the past two matches and has scored more than one goal in a game only twice this season.

Shackford noted that the Tigers’ offense will need to improve in order for them to have success.

“[The offensive struggles have] been the story the whole season long,” Shackford said. “I don’t have a magic answer for it. I don’t think it’s because we’re not creating opportunities … I think we’re not making great decisions around the goal.”

Despite the struggles, the Tigers continue to plug away. They would like to end the season on a high note, even though their playoff chances are remote. Princeton’s only hope to make the NCAA Tournament would be to win the Ivy League, which would surely be difficult to achieve.

Because of the Orange and Black’s strength of schedule and their record, it’s all but impossible for them to gain an at-large bid in the tournament.

“We are focusing on finishing strong and continuing to fight through the scoring slump,” Shackford said. “Unless something really weird happens in the league, [it will be hard for us to win].”

Despite the slim chances for reaching the playoffs, Shackford remains impressed by her team’s willingness to fight until the end.

“I’m just proud of the kids for continuing to work,” Shackford said.