Princeton University
Yale
Huge Second Half Leads No. 17 Princeton Past No. 23 Yale In Ivy Women's Soccer
September 24, 2004 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 24, 2004
Final Stats
New Haven, Conn. - Maura Gallagher called it the most fun she's had playing soccer in a long time. After the way Princeton played in the second half against Yale Friday night, who could doubt her?
Gallagher scored one of Princeton's three second-half goals to lead the 17th-ranked Tigers to a 3-0 win over No. 23 Yale Friday night in the Ivy League opener for both. The win, Princeton's fourth straight in New Haven dating to a 1996 loss, improved the Tigers to 5-1 overall and dropped Yale to 5-3.
Princeton outshot Yale 12-3 in the second half alone and 19-5 for the game. Yale came into the game leading the Ivy League with 100 shots in seven games.
"That second half was amazing," said Gallagher, who scored her first goal of the season. "That was the most fun I've had playing in a long time. I have to applaud our coaching staff for the adjustments they made at halftime." Princeton outshot Yale 7-2 in the first half and had one shot hit the crossbar, but the first 45 minutes ended 0-0. The Tiger coaching staff waited about 10 minutes before addressing the team during the intermission.
"I told them to take some chances," said Tiger coach Julie Shackford. "I thought we were too tentative in the first half. I thought based on their formation that we could come at them with more numbers and put pressure on their backs."
The result was impressive. The Tigers ripped off five shots in the first 10 minutes of the half, which saw one goal disallowed by an offsides and another shot slip past Bulldog goalkeeper Sarah Walker before being knocked away as it reached the endline by Lindsey Weening.
Princeton finally broke through when Brea Griffiths headed in a cross from Emily Behncke with 34:26 remaining in the half, giving Griffiths her third career goal, all on head balls.
From there, it took Gallagher just six more minutes to make it 2-0, when she converted on a breakaway. It was Gallagher's first goal of the season and eighth of her career.
Negron put the game away with a goal off an assist from Catherine Byrd, her first career point, with six minutes remaining. Negron's goal tied her with Behncke and Diana Matheson for the team lead with three, and it also made her the second Princeton player to score 30 goals in her career. Negron is now 11 goals off Linda DeBoer's school career record.
Madeleine Jackson made two saves for her third shutout of the year. Jackson has played 270 minutes this year without allowing a goal.
"This was a big statement game," said Gallagher, whose team is at Hartford Sunday. "They were ranked, and we were ranked. It was a league game. It was huge for us."
No. 17 Princeton (5-1, 1-0) 0-3 -- 3 No. 23 Yale (5-3, 0-1) 0-0 -- 0
Scoring P: Brea Griffiths (Emily Behncke) 55:34, P: Maura Gallagher 61:38, P: Esmeralda Negron (Catherine Byrd) 83:19.
Shots P: 19, Y: 5
Saves P: Madeleine Jackson 2, Y: Sarah Walker 5