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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Hosts Texas A&M To Open Women's Soccer Season
September 02, 2004 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 2, 2004
The Princeton women's soccer team hosts Texas A&M Friday night (7) in its 2004 season-opener. The Tigers and Aggies are two of the 19 teams in Division I who have appeared in the NCAA tournament each of the last five years. Texas A&M advanced to the Sweet 16 a year ago. Nice to meet you - Princeton and Texas A&M have never played in women's soccer before. Passports, please - Princeton and Texas A&M both took trips to Europe last month in preparation for this season. Princeton spent 11 days in Germany from Aug. 13-24; Texas A&M was in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and England during its tour from Aug. 12-20. Ivy Aggies - Texas A&M follows its game against Princeton tonight with a game at Penn Sunday. Polling place - Texas A&M is ranked 13th in this week's Soccer Buzz poll. Princeton, ranked 27th a week ago in the preseason poll, dropped out of the Soccer Buzz Top 30 despite not having played. Early returns - Texas A&M has defeated Texas Christian and Michigan and lost to Clemson in the early season. Princeton is playing for the first time. Veteran's Day - Princeton scored 38 goals in the 2003 season; 34 of them were scored by players who return in 2004. Tournament tested - Princeton is one of 19 teams in Division I to have played in the NCAA women's soccer tournament each of the last five seasons. Texas A&M is one of the other 18. Es good as it gets - Princeton senior Esmeralda Negron was the 2003 Ivy League Player of the Year, a 2003 third-team All-America and a member of the United States Under-21 national team that won the Nordic Cup as the Under-21 world champion in July in Iceland. Get to the point - Esmeralda Negron is second in points scored in a career at Princeton with 60. She enters her senior year needing 34 to tie Linda DeBoer '85 for first. Goal oriented - Esmeralda Negron enters her senior year 14 goals short of tying the school career record of 41, held by Linda DeBoer '85. Negron, who tied the school record last year with 13 goals, is second all-time at Princeton with 27. Can you spare a dime? - Maura Gallagher has 10 assists in her first two seasons, leaving her exactly halfway towards tying the school career record of 20, held by Kathleen Kobler '90. I'm honored - Texas A&M's Cristina Echavarry was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after scoring all three Aggie goals in their last two games. Coach speak - Julie Shackford enters her 10th season as Princeton head coach with a record of 98-49-10. She has won more games than any other women's soccer coach in school history and more than any men's coach except for Jimmy Reed, who won 136 games from 1938-66. Young guns - Texas A&M's freshman class was ranked first in the nation by Soccer Buzz. More young - Diana Matheson was ranked as the third-best incoming freshman in Division I soccer by Soccer America. For starters - Christina Costantino and Diana Matheson will be making their first career starts for Princeton. Okay, smart guys - Princeton's Romy Trigg-Smith was an Academic All-Ivy selection a year ago; Maija Garnaas was a first-team District II Academic All-America. Oh Canada - Princeton has four Canadians in its regular starting lineup, including three fourth-year starters and two captains. Captains Janine Willis and Brea Griffiths and fellow defender Brea Griffiths have all started together since their freshman season, while freshman Diana Matheson is a member of the Canadian national team who played in the last Women's World Cup and in Olympic qualifying. Strength of schedule - Princeton plays six teams from the 2004 NCAA tournament, including four in its five games of the year. Thrills and Pills - Elizabeth Pillion has played in five NCAA tournaments in five seasons at Princeton, twice with the women's soccer team and three times with the women's lacrosse team. Pillion, a first-team All-America in lacrosse last year, has been on two NCAA champion women's lacrosse teams. Geography lesson - The Texas A&M roster features 15 players from the state of Texas. The state most represented on Princeton's roster is Virginia, with five players.