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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton To Open 2005 Women's Soccer Season Against UCLA In Rematch Of 2004 NCAA Semifinal
June 07, 2005 | Women's Soccer
June 7, 2005
The Princeton women's soccer team will start the 2005 season against the team that ended its 2004 season one game short of playing for the national championship. Between that rematch and the end of the regular season, Princeton will play five NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, plus three other perennial postseason teams looking to return to the tournament after a one-year absence.
Princeton begins the 2005 season looking to repeat the magic of 2004, when the Tigers went 19-3, were a perfect 7-0-0 in the Ivy League and won four NCAA tournament games to become the first Ivy League team to advance to the NCAA Final Four.
The 2005 Tigers will be looking for their seventh straight NCAA tournament appearance and fifth Ivy title in the last six years. They will be led by head coach Julie Shackford, the 2004 Division I Coach of the Year, and captains Emily Behncke, a two-time first-team All-Ivy selection, and Diana Matheson, a first-team All-America as a freshman a year ago.
The team that ended the Princeton run a year ago was UCLA, who defeated the Tigers 2-0 in the NCAA semifinals. Princeton will open the 2005 season on Sept. 2 against the Bruins in a tournament at the University of Miami, whom Princeton will play two days later.
The following week, Princeton and Penn will host Loyola Marymount and Arizona in their annual early fall-event, which rotates between the two Ivy rivals and this year will be played in Princeton. The tough start to the season continues with a trip Sept. 16 to Connecticut. By the end of that game, Princeton will have played five games, three of which will have been against teams seeded in the Top 16 in last year's NCAA tournament (UCLA, Arizona, UConn.). The game at Connecticut is followed by a game two days later at Boston University, who missed the NCAA tournament a year ago after back-to-back appearances. Princeton also faces Dartmouth and Rutgers, two teams who also will be looking to return to the tournament after a one-year absence.
The Ivy League season begins Sept. 24 with a home game against Yale, who along with Harvard received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament a year ago before falling in the first round. Princeton also has non-league games against La Salle, Syracuse and Rider.
Princeton graduated 10 seniors from a year ago, including first-team All-America and two-time Ivy Player of the Year Esmeralda Negron, the all-time leading scorer in program history. Princeton needs to replace four-year starters Brea Griffiths and Janine Willis, as well as three-year starting defender Rochelle Willis (injured most of last year), All-Ivy defender Elizabeth Pillion and scoring threat Kristina Fontanez.
Joing Behncke and Matheson will be Madeleine Jackson and Emily Vogelzang, who split the goalkeeping position the last two years, as well as first-team All-Ivy defender Romy Trigg-Smith. Other returning starters are defender Christina Costantino and midfielder Maura Gallagher.
Princeton also has several other veteran returnees, as well as a strong sophomore class and the 17th-ranked recruiting class in Division I, according to SoccerBuzz magazine.
Princeton University Women's Soccer 2005 Schedule
Friday, September 2 -- *UCLA A 7:00PM
Sunday, September 4 -- *University of Miami A 2:30PM
Thursday, September 8 -- %Loyola Marymount. H 7:30PM
Saturday, September 10 -- %University of Arizona. H 2:30PM
Friday, September 16 -- Univ. of Connecticut A 7:00PM
Sunday, September 18 -- Boston University A 1:00PM
Saturday, September 24 -- Yale H 7:00PM
Tuesday, September 27 -- LaSalle H 7:00PM
Sunday, October 2 -- Dartmouth A 12Noon
Wednesday, October 5 -- Syracuse H 7:00PM
Saturday, October 8 -- Brown A 7:00PM
Tuesday, October 11 -- Rutgers A 7:00PM
Saturday, October 15 -- Columbia H 4:00PM
Wednesday, October 19 -- Rider H 7:00PM
Saturday, October 22 -- Harvard A 2:00PM
Saturday, October 29 -- Cornell H 7:00PM
Saturday, November 5 -- Penn A 12Noon
*Miami Tournament %Princeton Tournament