Women's soccer ends season with tie as Lussi reflects on legacy

The women’s soccer team wrapped up the 2016 fall season with a 1-1 draw against UPenn this past Saturday, November 5, at Roberts Stadium.

Princeton was in the lead just seven minutes after the first whistle when senior defender Haley Chow slid and knocked in a corner kick from senior defender and midfielder Jesse McDonough. Eighteen minutes after Chow’s first goal of the season, UPenn tied the game with a shot from Emily Sands taken from the top corner of the 18-yard box.

The Tigers finished at 10-4-3 overall and 2-3-2 for the Ivy League.

Senior forward Tyler Lussi explained her team’s attitude as they headed into their final Ivy League match: “As every student athlete at Princeton knows, your next Ivy game is the toughest…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 also reflected on the leadership that she, McDonough, junior midfielder Vanessa Gregoire, and senior midfielder Nicole Loncar displayed throughout the highs and lows of this fall season.

“The team and the coaches selected four captains with four distinct personalities so there was always a full menu of leadership, perspectives, and intensity,” Lussi explained. “Being a member of a team and tying or losing is tough, being a captain and leading your teammates to that tie or loss is brutal. Coaches do all they can with guidance and strategy from the sidelines knowing their time and responsibility to inspire by athletic actions on the field is the charge of others.”

Lussi concludes her Princeton career as the program’s record holder for goals scored and points accumulated with 53 goals and 122 points. She is also the Ivy League’s top goal scorer since 1988, but she reserves her pride for her team’s solidarity.

“I’m excited every time I have the privilege to step on a soccer pitch with my teammates representing Princeton; the privilege is ten times as great playing in Robert’s Stadium. My teammates are the most amazing, unselfish, and competitive women from the greatest institution of higher learning that I have ever known.”

Freshman forward Abby Givens, who has already made her mark starting nine games and making three goals, also expressed similar sentiment.

“As an incoming freshman, it was expected that I commit myself fully to this program and to my new team,” Givens said about her arrival. “As a member of the team, I was expected to give everything I could to help the team achieve our collective goals. My experience thus far has been incredible. Being a part of such a determined, driven, and talented group of people has been a huge learning experience and more gratifying then I could’ve ever imagined.”