Blosser's 2 goals pace Princeton at Myslik

In the women’s soccer team’s fourth match ever against Fairfield University, it continued the tradition of shutting out the Stags. The Tigers (5-3 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) won the game 2-0, with sophomore midfielder Caitlin Blosser scoring both goals of the game.

This is Fairfield’s third consecutive scoreless match. They most recently had a 0-0 tie with Hartford, who the Tigers beat 1-0, and before that had lost to Army 1-0.

Princeton’s offense began slow, but picked up midway through the first half and dominated the rest of the game. The Tigers had 10 shots in the first half, forcing Fairfield goalie Kelly Boudreau to make nine saves, while keeping the Stags to only one shot on goal.

 Senior midfielder Lauren Whatley gave the first sparks to the offense, creating the first shots on goal within the beginning two minutes of the game. Following Whatley, Blosser had the next two shots, then Whatley contributed two more. Sophomore forward Jen Hoy led Princeton later in the half with two fast breaks that ended in strong shots, both saved by Fairfield’s goalie. Freshman midfielder Gabriella Guzman, junior forward Barb Previ, sophomore midfielder Rachel Saunders and senior midfielder Alexandra Valerio were also driving forces to the offense.

The defense kept the Stags out of their territory for much of the beginning of the game. Princeton saw a strong defensive effort from sophomore back Diane Metcalf-Leggette and Guzman.

Throughout the half, the Tigers had great plays through the center of the field with crisp, quick passes between each line of players.

They also made excellent use of cross-field passes and had good looks across the goal, even though they could not find the back of the net during the first half.

The second half began with the teams trading off control of the ball, and Fairfield broke through with their second shot on goal in the first five minutes. But the Tigers regained control quickly. After three successive shots on goal and saves by the Stag goalie, Blosser pulled through with an unassisted goal, shot from right outside the 18-yard line to the top left corner of the cage, at the 57th minute.

“I felt that you never have a perfect shot on goal, but I had a second of an opening and I just took the shot and it worked,” Blosser said.

Blosser scored again, in the 72nd minute, on a header with an assist from Whatley. “It was well timed,” Blosser said. “I knew [Whatley] would cross it across the goal, and I saw the opening and took it.”

Blosser now has four goals on the season, and Whatley has three assists. Blosser currently leads the team in points, scoring 14 on the season. She also leads in assists with six, and Whatley is second.

Throughout the second half, Metcalf-Leggette and freshman back Kacie Kergides anchored the defense, and each saved goals at the goal line.

The Tigers finished with 17 shots on goal, while the Stags only had four.

According to Blosser, the offense worked well together because of their movement off the ball. “Everyone worked together and worked for each other,” she said.

Head coach Julie Shackford agreed with Blosser, adding that the team responded well to their halftime talk about their off-ball movement and precise passes, and stayed disciplined throughout the game.

Next for the Tigers will be their second Ivy League game, at home against Dartmouth (3-4-1, 1-0) at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Last weekend Dartmouth  opened up its Ivy League season with a 2-1 win over Brown.

Shackford said she plans to prepare for the game by “refocusing and getting rest” first, and then getting ready to play a smart game.

“We know the team has lots of potential,” Shackford said. “We have many young players, which is exciting to work with.”