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Princeton University Athletics
How Sweet It Es
October 26, 2004 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2004
You hear the name "Iceland," and your first instinct is to think of, well, ice. Lots of ice. And snow. And people bundled up and huddled together in an endless series of winter blizzards.
"The legend has it that the people in Iceland named it "Iceland" to keep people away," says Esmeralda Negron. "Iceland is beautiful. There's a lot of green, a lot of mountains and a lot of water. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been."
And what brought Negron to Iceland in the first place? Soccer.
Specifically, her place as one of the rising stars of American women's soccer.
Iceland was the host this past July for the Nordic Cup, the Under-21 World Championships won easily by the United States. Esmeralda Negron, Princeton Class of 2005, made her international debut as part of the American team. "We played out in the country," Negron says. "We got to see the whole country. We'd be on fields where in the background there were huge whitecapped mountains and water everywhere."
Aside from an interesting way to spend your summer, Negron's presence in Ireland stamped her as a legitimate factor in the next generation of women's soccer in this country. The Under-21 team has long been a feeding ground for the women's national team, which is filled with Nordic Cup alums.
"I was really, really excited to be part of that team," said Negron. "It was a chance to play with the highest quality players I've gotten to play with so far. I was really honored."
Just as she was honored last fall. And honored and honored and honored.
Negron was named the 2003 Ivy League Player of the Year after tying the Princeton single-season record for goals with 13 and coming within one of the school record for points in season with 30. Both records were set more than 20 years ago.
She followed that up by being named first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region and a third-team All-America. She has twice been a first-team All-Ivy League selection.
"She is the most creative player I've ever coached," says Princeton head coach Julie Shackford. "You don't so much coach Es as you do let her go and watch her play."
Even to the casual observer, Negron's ability to create for herself and others stands out every game. She is a magician with the ball, and her individual ability alone leads to several extra chances per game. "I guess a lot of it is just instinct," says Negron, a Spanish major who wears No. 23 after Michael Jordan. "I just like to play. I like to try to be creative on the field. I like to try to do things people don't normally try to do."
Negron, a native of Harrington Park, N.J., whose father Robert is the career leader in batting average at Binghamton, came to Princeton after setting the school record for goals at Old Tappan High School. In soccer, though, the best players are usually found through the Olympic Development Program and their club teams, and in that sense Negron was a relatively unheralded player.
"I didn't know if I'd get the opportunity to play in college," says Negron. "Growing up, I never made a regional team or a national team in ODP. Most kids start off with that. I hadn't had the exposure."
She was recruited by most of the Ivy schools and Stanford. She chose Princeton after the 2000 team tied for the Ivy title and advanced to the NCAA tournament, and she stepped into a major role from Day 1.
She scored six goals as a freshman, when Princeton won another share of the league and then advanced to the second round of the tournament.
Negron scored eight more goals as a sophomore, including two more in overtime, to earn first-team All-Ivy for the first time. She also led Princeton to an outright Ivy title and another NCAA appearance.
Her junior year was a huge one. She scored 13 goals and added four assists, tying Susan Mooney's goals record from 1980 and coming within one point of Linda DeBoer's record from 1982. Princeton advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight season and finished the year ranked 23rd in RPI.
All of that has set the stage for her senior year. Negron has scored nine goals in leading Princeton to a 12-1 record and a trip up the national rankings that had the Tiger at ninth last week. Along the way, Princeton has defeated five teams from last year's NCAA tournament, including two (Texas A&M and Villanova) from last year's Sweet 16.
Individually, Negron has run her career goal total to 37, four away from DeBoer's 20-year-old school career record.
She also has eight assists this season, leaving her one away from the school single-season record. She has run her career total to 13, tying her for fourth in assists in school history. She also has 87 career points, seven shy of tying DeBoer's school record.
Negron's goal against Harvard Saturday night was her fourth career overtime goal, giving her four of the 21 overtime goals in Princeton history. She has scored in overtime against Harvard twice.
"I try not to focus on the individual stuff," Negron says. "It'd be great to break records, but that's icing on the cake. I like to go out, play, have a good time, play my best and hopefully win."
Negron is the leader of this group of Tigers, and it is one with a great supporting cast offensively and defensively. There is depth, experience and the emergence of Diana Matheson, a freshman who played in the World Cup and Olympic qualifying for Canada.
In short, this year's team has a chance to eclipse the accomplishments of any of the first three Negron has been on at Princeton.
"Princeton has a great program," she says. "It's amazing to be part of this team. It's a lot of fun to play with everyone on such a high level. We have so many players who can do so much, and Diana has added so much. We have a lot of impact players."
Led by Esmeralda Negron.