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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Tigers, Quakers to Battle for Ivy Title, Postseason Bid Saturday
November 01, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Princeton at Penn
Sat., Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Rhodes Field (Penn)
Records: Princeton 8-6-1, 4-1-0 Ivy; Penn 11-3-1, 4-1-0 Ivy
All-Time Series: Princeton leads 15-5-1
Princeton head coach: Julie Shackford (13th season/William and Mary '88)
Penn head coach: Darren Ambrose (8th season/South Carolina-Spartanburg '93)
A Princeton win would...
Move the Tigers to 5-1 in the Ivy League with 15 standings points and a key tiebreaker over Penn for the NCAA auto bid, if necessary
Possibly clinch the Ivy League's NCAA tournament bid, pending other league results Saturday
Clinch the program's sixth Ivy League title by assuring the Tigers at least a share
A Princeton tie would...
Keep the Tigers alive for an Ivy title and the NCAA bid heading into the season's final week
Be the first Ivy League tie for the team since 2003, when the Tigers knotted Harvard at 1-1 in Cambridge
Keep Princeton in a first-place tie with Penn heading into the final week
A Princeton loss would...
Remove the Tigers from contention for the Ivy League's NCAA tournament bid by dropping the tiebreaker vs. Penn
Still keep Princeton in contention for a share of the Ivy League title heading into the final week
End an eight-game undefeated streak versus Philadelphia schools and a three-game win streak against Penn
A look back at 2001
The only time Princeton and Penn have finished 1-2 in the Ivy standings since the Quakers added women's soccer as a varsity sport in 1991 was in 2001. That year, Princeton, Penn and Dartmouth all finished the season at 5-1-1 in the league and all three, plus Harvard, made the NCAA tournament. Three of the four teams, including Princeton, won their first-round NCAA games. The win was Princeton's first NCAA victory in 19 years.
The Princeton-Penn series
The 21-game series has been bookended by Princeton win streaks including Princeton's current three-game string. Despite a 15-5-1 Princeton overall lead in the series, Penn had a four-game undefeated streak at home until Princeton won 3-2 on its last visit in 2005.
A look at the Ivy race
Five teams are still alive and have workable scenarios to snag the Ivy League's NCAA tournament bid. While Princeton and Penn have 12 points apiece, Harvard, Yale and Brown each have nine. The Princeton-Penn game will help clear the league race, as will Saturday's Brown-Yale game in New Haven. Harvard will travel to Columbia as all three games involving teams in contention will be played under the lights.
| Ivy Wins | Losses | Ties | Points | Remaining Ivy Schedule | |
| Princeton | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 11/3 @ Penn, 11/11 vs. Yale |
| Penn | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 11/3 vs. Princeton, 11/10 @ Harvard |
| Harvard | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 11/3 @ Columbia, 11/10 vs. Penn |
| Yale | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 11/3 vs. Brown, 11/11 @ Princeton |
| Brown | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 11/3 @ Yale, 11/10 vs. Dartmouth |
| Columbia | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11/3 vs. Harvard, 11/10 @ Cornell |
| Dartmouth | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11/3 vs. Cornell, 11/10 @ Brown |
| Cornell | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11/3 @ Dartmouth, 11/10 vs. Columbia |
Bucknell recap
It wasn't a happy Halloween for the Orange and Black as Bucknell's gift to its Tiger guests, a 4-1 defeat, was more trick than treat. Bucknell scored three goals before the 30-minute mark Wednesday night and didn't let Princeton back in the game. The meeting was the teams' first since 1999 as Princeton had won all five previous meetings between the schools and had an 18-of-19 streak against all Patriot League schools over the last 10 years.
Spreading the wealth
11 Tigers have found the back of the net this season. That list includes six players who scored their first-career goal this year: Alexandra Valerio, Melissa Whitley, Marissa Sampias, Libby van Beuren, Regina Yang and Allison Williams.
Still going
Junior defender Taylor Numann, a first-team All-Ivy honoree in 2006, has started every game of her career, a streak 47 contests long. Numann and freshman Marissa Sampias are the only Tigers to have started every possible game during their Princeton careers.
And going...
Sophomore defender Melissa Seitz is the only Tiger to have played all 1,381 minutes this year.
A Tiger in net
Princeton goalkeeper Maren Dale has started the last 31 games in net, including every game in 2006 and 2007.
On Penn
A feeling Princeton knew a week ago, the Quakers have had a week without a game since their first Ivy League loss at Brown last weekend. Penn had one week of leading the Ivy League solo after Princeton fell to Harvard, but a Tiger win over Cornell coupled with the Penn loss at Brown put the teams back in a tie. A New Jersey native, sophomore Jessica Fuccello from Brick, N.J., has 10 of Penn's 33 goals. A pair of sophomore goalkeepers, Sara Rose and Cailly Carroll, have split most of the minutes between the posts this year, though Rose has started the last five games.