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Princeton University
Hartford
Sizzling Negron Leads Princeton Past Hartford 3-1
September 24, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 24, 2003
Final Stats
Esmeralda Negron's streak of having one goal in every Princeton women's soccer game this season is over. And that's just fine with her.
Negron, who had exactly one goal in each of the Tigers' first five games, had two Wednesday night, leading 20th-ranked Princeton to a 3-1 win over Hartford at Lourie-Love Field.
"She's awesome," said Princeton coach Julie Shackford. "She's having a breakout year."
The victory improved Princeton to 5-0-1 on the season heading into Saturday night's Ivy League opener at Princeton Stadium against Yale. Hartford, who had defeated Princeton 2-1 in the 1999 NCAA tournament in the only previous meeting between the schools, fell to 2-5.
Negron, who led Princeton in goals last year with eight for the season, scored her sixth and seventh goals of this year as Princeton built a 3-0 lead. Hartford's goal came on a penalty kick after a handball in the area with five minutes remaining. The Tigers were playing for the first time since returning on a red-eye flight Sunday night after playing two games in California, including a 1-1 tie Sunday with 12th-ranked Cal.
"We were a little sluggish," said Negron. "It was a lot, with the time change and the flight and catching up on sleep and doing schoolwork. We weren't 100%, but we did come away with a very good win."
Freshman Meghan Farrell, who minutes earlier had missed an open net, started the scoring in the 31st minute, when she converted on a feed from Emily Behncke. The score stayed 1-0 into the second half.
Negron then took a long pass from Behncke on the left side and reversed the ball into the far corner five minutes after intermission to make it 2-0. The nicest goal of the night came 25 minutes later, when Negron drilled a short pass from Elizabeth Pillion into the top of the net for the 3-0 lead.
Hilde Bakke converted the penalty kick for Hartford to make the final 3-1. Princeton outshot the Hawks 15-5.
"We've had six games to get ready for the league," said Shackford, whose team has won three straight Ivy titles, including the program's first outright title a year ago. "I'm looking forward to playing in the stadium. We're happy to be where we are, and now we're entering the most important part of our schedule."