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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Villanova (NCAA First Round)
Villanova Tops Princeton 2-1 In NCAA Women's Soccer
November 14, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Nov. 14, 2003
Final Stats
Charlottesville, Va. - Villanova scored two goals in a 1:32 span of the first half and then held on against a furious Princeton attack to earn a 2-1 win in the opening round of the NCAA women's soccer tournament Friday night at Klockner Stadium at the University of Virginia.
Villanova advanced to the second round against host Virginia, who defeated William & Mary on penalty kicks in the first game of the night.
Princeton's season ends at 11-3-3. The TIgers were making their fifth straight NCAA tournament appearance.
"It's tough to fall behind like that at this level," said Princeton coach Julie Shackford. "Having said that, we had a lot of chances in the second half. I thought it was our best game of the season, actually. It's just difficult to lose like that." Elizabeth Dauble started the scoring at the 22:10 mark of the first half, and the Wildcats made it 2-0 on Lindsey Finnegan's goal at 23:42. Princeton quickly was behind 2-0, just like a year ago against Penn State in the opening round of the tournament.
Unlike the Penn State game, Princeton came storming back this time. The Tigers cut the lead in half when Theresa Sherry headed in a free kick from Maura Gallagher with nine minutes left in the first half, and that set the stage for Princeton's second half.
The Tigers ripped off 11 shots in the second half and had an equal number of other quality chances, but they could not get the ball into the goal. Emily Behncke came the closest when she hit the crossbar with 10 minutes to play, and Behncke had another shot as time expired that went just over the goal.
Princeton's offense, led in the second half by Behncke and midfielder Maija Garnaas, kept the ball in the Villanova end almost the entire time. Villanova had one good scoring opportunity, but Princeton goalkeeper Emily Vogelzang just deflected a drive over the crossbar midway through the half to keep it 2-1.
After that, the Princeton attack kept the ball across midfield almost the rest of the way. The Tigers had all sorts of chances, but Villanova's defenders were able to recover time and again to prevent a goal.
The final five minutes saw Behncke, Garnaas, Kristina Fontanez and Janine Willis keep the pressure on and repeatedly send the ball in the box, but Princeton would not get the tying goal.
"We played really well," Garnaas said. "We talked about it in the lockerroom after the game. We thought we were the better team in the game, but we weren't able to get it done."
The Tigers outshot Villanova 15-9 for the game.
Princeton graduates two players from this year's team, Sherry and fellow senior Liz Bell.
Princeton (11-3-3) 1-0 -- 1
Villanova (15-5-3) 2-0 -- 2
Scoring - V: Elizabeth Dauble (Erica Stewart) 22:10, V: Lindsey Finnegan (Elizabeth Dauble) 23:42; P: Theresa Sherry (Maura Gallagher) 35:31
Shots - Princeton 15, VIllanova 9
Saves - P: Emily Vogelzang 2, V: Chrissy Dolan 4
Attendance - 649