Women's soccer looks to move up in the rankings with game against Harvard

After a disappointing loss against Columbia that placed it in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Ivy League, the Princeton women’s soccer team is scheduled to host long-time rival Harvard this coming Saturday.

The Tigers now stand at 9-3-1 and 1-2-1 for the season and Ivy League conference respectively.

The Crimson, which is now at 7-3-3 and 2-0-2, is currently sitting in second place behind first-place Columbia.

Senior forward Tyler Lussi, who holds the program record for goals scored and accumulated points, described the importance of her team to remain focused for every game of Ivy League play despite the challenges that are presented to them. “As every student athlete at Princeton knows, your next Ivy game is the toughest,” Lussi stated. “Sean [Driscoll], Kelly [Boudreau], Mike [Poller], and Alison [Nabatoff], and everyone on this team has prepared us to play at the highest level. Our attitude at game time is either our biggest asset or biggest obstacle. We have to be all in —no excuses, just execute.”

Lussi elaborated on this collective need for concentration by tapping into the former success of her team, which finished with a 14-4-1 record last fall season, for motivation for the remainder of the season. “Sean instilled in us last season a sense of urgency to put together two great halves of soccer each game and it worked well,” Lussi commented. “Sean has always believed and told us that we are a special team that finds a way to win. We know how to win. There is no time for excuses, just two 45 minutes halves to execute the win.”

Freshman forward Abby Givens, who has already made her mark with 12 games played and three goals, also commented on the tough road that lies ahead. “Due to the nature of our in-conference play, our biggest challenge for the rest of the season will be hopefully securing an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament,” Givens stated, regarding one of her team’s main goals for the season. “As a team we will need to win the rest of our games this season to give ourselves the best chance to do this, so essentially all of our games are going to be tough from here on out.”

The Tigers will face off against the Crimson at on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and then Bucknell on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Roberts Stadium.