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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Soccer to Face West Virginia in NCAA Tournament First Round Friday
November 13, 2008 | Women's Soccer
NCAA First Round ? Princeton vs. West Virginia
Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 ? 7:30 p.m. ? Charlottesville, Va.
No. 9: This weekend marks Princeton's ninth appearance in the NCAA tournament. Princeton was in the first two tournaments in 1982 and 1983 before returning annually from 1999-2004.
Here we are again: Princeton has made one other NCAA tournament visit to Charlottesville. In 2003, Villanova got by the Tigers 2-1 in the first round.
Princeton in Virginia: Princeton has made seven trips to the state of Virginia since Julie Shackford became head coach in 1995. Among those destinations were Charlottesville (three times), Harrisonburg (once), Williamsburg (twice) and Richmond (once). Princeton had played in the state only once before the Shackford era, in 1992 at William & Mary.
Princeton in Charlottesville: Princeton has a 1-3 record in games played on Virginia's campus. In 1997, the Tigers beat VCU and lost to Virginia 3-0 in a weekend tournament. Princeton returned the following year, falling 2-1 to the Cavaliers before playing in the NCAA tournament at UVa in 2003.
Princeton vs. West Virginia: The Tigers and Mountaineers have never met on the soccer pitch, nor has Princeton ever played a team from West Virginia. The Tigers do have a coach who went to college in the state as assistant Ron Celestin is a 1985 West Virginia Wesleyan grad.
Princeton vs. Virginia and Army: The Tigers are 0-2 against Virginia (1997, 1998) and 2-4 vs. Army, last meeting in 1997.
Princeton vs. the Big East: The Tigers annually play Big East teams, thanks mostly to Princeton's proximity to several of the league's campuses. Since 2005, in the time of Princeton's senior class, the Tigers have faced Connecticut (tie, loss), Rutgers (loss, loss, win), Notre Dame (loss), Villanova (tie) and St. John's (tie). The game against the Red Storm was Princeton's only Big East content this season.
Common opponents vs. West Virginia: Princeton and WVU faced both Towson and St. John's this season. Both teams beat Towson and tied St. John's.
Can't spell Charlottesville, Virginia without N-C-A-A: Five Princeton teams have played NCAA contests at UVa, including men's soccer (1999), women's lacrosse (1998, 2006, 2007), men's lacrosse (2004), baseball (2004) and women's soccer (2003).
Ivy and the NCAA: Princeton reaching the NCAA tournament via an at-large berth shouldn't come as a surprise. Just in the last decade, multiple Ivy teams, as many as four, received berths annually from 1998-2005 and again this season.
Going home empty-handed: Princeton has shut out its opponents in 10 of 16 games this season. That includes a seven-match shutout streak.
Not returning the favor: While shutting out its opponents 10 times, Princeton has been shut out only twice, and not since Oct. 11 vs. Brown.
Stingy: Princeton has allowed just seven goals this season and only once has allowed more than one in a game. Princeton's 0.41 team GAA leads the Ivy League, as do the 10 shutouts.
Virginia ties: Four people who rode the Princeton bus down to Charlottesville are Virginia natives, including head coach Julie Shackford, assistant coach Scott Champ, sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Pont and senior midfielder Jen Om. All four are from Northern Virginia.
High school connections: Princeton head coach Julie Shackford and Virginia sophomore Kristin Bowers both went to Lake Braddock High, while Princeton's Alyssa Pont and Virginia's Kika Toulouse are both 2007 Bishop O'Connell grads. Princeton does not share any high school alma maters with West Virginia or Army.
We're not boring: Princeton's games have been tight ones all season, with 12 of the 16 having a margin of one goal or fewer, in the case of ties.
More not boring: Princeton has scored three golden goals this season, all by the senior class. Two came from Sarah Peteraf (vs. Towson and Columbia) and one was from Taylor Numann to end the season and capture a share of the Ivy title vs. Penn.
Ending on an uptick: Entering the weekend, Princeton has scored multiple goals in three straight games for the first time all season. The Tigers have scored nine goals since Oct. 29.
Princeton in the Ivy individual rankings: Sarah Peteraf's 12 goals are tied for the league best, and her 0.75 goals per game leads the league, as do her seven game-winning goals. Alyssa Pont's 0.45 GAA is No. 1 in the league, as are her seven shutouts.
Individual Notes
Senior midfielder Sarah Peteraf was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Oct. 6. She also earned CoSIDA Academic All-District II second-team honors as a politics major this season. She leads the team with 12 goals as the first Princeton double-digit goal scorer since 2005.
Senior defender Taylor Numann is a two-time All-Ivy honoree defender who was named the Ivy League Player of the Week last week for scoring two goals vs. Penn. They were her second and third goals of her career and first in two years. Numann is the only current Tiger to start every game of her career, 65 in all.
Sophomore Alyssa Pont has been in goal from start to finish for seven of Princeton's 10 shutouts and has been the goalkeeper of record in all 16 games. It is her first season as the starting keeper after making a brief appearance in only one game as a freshman.
Rookie midfielder Alissa Boddie was named the Ivy League Player of the Week Nov. 3 after scoring three goals and assisting on another in Princeton's 4-0 win at Cornell. The points were the first of her season and career.
Rookie forward Kalie Bartholomew ranks second on the team with four goals and had Princeton's score in its only game against a Big East team back on Sept. 21 at St. John's.
Head coach Julie Shackford became the winningest soccer coach in school history, men's or women's, last season. Her record is 153-75-16 in 14 seasons at Princeton and 195-96-22 overall, including four seasons at Carnegie Mellon from 1991-94. Seven of Princeton's nine NCAA bids and five of six Ivy titles have come during her tenure.