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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Tigers, Trojans to Battle Friday For Spot in NCAA Round of 16
November 17, 2015 | Women's Soccer
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Princeton vs. USC Fri., Nov. 20 • 4 p.m. Klöckner Stadium, Charlottesville, Va. NCAA Second Round |
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| 14-3-1, 6-0-1 Ivy | Record | 15-5-1, 9-2 Pac-12 |
| Sean Driscoll, 1st season | Head Coach | Keidane McAlpine, 2nd season |
| 2.56 | Goals Per Game | 1.57 |
| 1.00 | Goals Against Per Game | 0.67 |
| Reg. Season, 3rd Ivy | 2014 Season Finish | NCAA 1st Round, 4th Pac-12 |
| 2012, 2nd Round | Last NCAA Tournament Appearance, Finish | 2014, 1st Round |
| 8-10 (0-0 PKs) | Record in NCAA Tournament Games | 15-12 (2-2 PKs) |
| -- | Series Wins | -- |
| -- | Last Series Win | -- |
Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter @putigers_ live | Fan Information | Tickets
Highlights & Postgame Comments After Boston College Win
The Streak: Princeton is unbeaten in 13 straight games since starting the season 2-3, the third-longest streak in program history. Princeton went unbeaten in 14 straight games in 1980 and between the 1985 and '86 seasons.
The Wins: Princeton's 14 wins are tied for second-most in program history with the 1980, 2001 and 2012 seasons. The 2004 team won a program-record 19 games.
The Goals: Princeton's 46 goals this season are tied for the fifth most in program history behind 2004 (58), 1980 (57), 1981 (53) and 2012 (52) and even with 1982 (46).
Lussi's Climb: Tyler Lussi has 15 goals and five assists for 35 points this season, giving her 43 goals 12 assists and 98 points for her career. Here's a look at where she stands on Princeton's career and single-season scoring lists:
• Second in career points (Record: Esmeralda Negron '05, 112)
• Second in career goals (Record: Esmeralda Nergon '05, 47)
• Third and fourth in points in a season (Record: Esmeralda Negron '05, 52, 2004) after 39 points last year
• T-second, fourth and 16th in goals in a season as the only player with three 10-goal seasons (Record: Esmeralda Negron '05, 20, 2004)
• T-10th in career assists (Record: Diana Matheson '08 & Lauren Lazo '15, 26)
Princeton's NCAA Tournament History: This is Princeton's 11th NCAA tournament appearance and it's the fifth time in those 11 trips that the Tigers have won a game in the tournament. In the era of the 64-team tournament, which is since 2001, Princeton has advanced to the Round of 16 once, in 2004, when the team made it all the way to the College Cup semifinals.
USC's NCAA Tournament History: This is USC's 14th NCAA Tournament appearance and the ninth time the Trojans have won a game. Since the 64-team field began in 2001, USC has made the Round of 16 twice, in 2007 when USC won the national title, and in 2008 when it lost in the Round of 16 to UCLA.
In the Lead: Princeton hasn't trailed since the 23rd minute of the game against Army West Point on Oct. 7, a streak of 717:24 over eight games. USC trailed Cal State Fullerton 3-2 in the NCAA first round last Friday before tying in the 67th minute and staying level for the last 43:34 heading into PKs.
Sweet 16?: The Tigers are trying to become the 10th Ivy League team in a 64-team bracket in any sport to reach the Round of 16. The nine who have made it: Cornell men's basketball (2010), Harvard men's tennis (2004), Columbia men's tennis (2014, 2015), Dartmouth women's soccer (2001), Princeton women's soccer (2004), Yale women's soccer (2005), Harvard women's tennis (2003, 2005).
Princeton at Virginia: Klöckner Stadium hasn't been too kind to the Tigers, with Princeton going 1-4 all-time at the facility. Princeton beat VCU and lost to Virginia at an in-season tournament there in 1997, lost to Virginia in a regular-season game there in 1998, and losing NCAA tournament games there to Villanova in the first round in 2003 and West Virginia in the first round in 2008. Each of the last three games at Klöckner have ended 2-1 for the Tigers' opponent.
USC at Virginia: The Trojans haven't had much luck at Klöckner either, playing in an in-season tournament there in 2003 and losing 3-2 to Penn State and 3-0 to Virginia.
Princeton vs. USC: The Tigers and Trojans have not met in women's soccer.
Princeton vs. the Pac-12: Princeton is 1-6-1 all-time against teams from the Pac-10/12 at the time of the game. The good news is that the one win was the only time the Tigers have played a team from that conference in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers beat Washington 3-1 in the NCAA quarterfinals at Lourie-Love Field in 2004.
USC vs. the Ivy: The Trojans are 1-0 all-time against the Ivy, defeating Harvard 2-0 in 2006 at an in-season tournament at Notre Dame.
Trojans Heading East: USC will make a trip to the East Coast for the second time this season. On Sept. 4 and 6, the Trojans played in a tournament at Duke, losing 1-0 to then-No. 18 Duke and 2-1 to then-No. 4 North Carolina. Before that, USC hadn't played on the East Coast since 2008, when it swept visits to Clemson and Georgia. USC has never played an NCAA tournament game on the East Coast, with its furthest NCAA tournament games having been at Notre Dame in 2010.
East Coast Trojans: Of the 29 players on USC's roster 19 are from California. Among the other 10 are a few East Coasters, with sophomore Amanda Rooney from Long Island, junior Mandy Freeman from south Florida, junior Morgan Andrews from New Hampshire and senior Faith Sugerman from Mendham in northern New Jersey.
West Coast Tigers: Princeton's 23 players come from 16 states, Canadian provinces and D.C., plus one Icelander. While the Tigers may not have the 19 Golden Staters that USC does, Princeton does have six Californians (junior Haley Chow, Pleasanton; junior Gianna Geil, Laguna Beach; junior Sarah Mendenhall, Pasadena; sophomore Katie Pratt-Thompson, Long Beach; sophomore Mikaela Symanovich, San Francisco; freshman Alexandra Whiting, Solana Beach) and two more West Coasters in Washingtonian sophomore Beth Stella and British Columbian sophomore Alessia Azermadhi.
Princeton vs. Boston College Recap: In the 4-2 win, Princeton got out to leads of 2-0 and 4-1 over Boston College before the Eagles picked up another goal in the waning minutes, getting two goals apiece from leading scorers Tyler Lussi (second two) and Mimi Asom (first two). BC played six top-25 teams this season and gave up four goals in only two of those games, to No. 3 Stanford and to No. 2 Virginia, plus a 5-4 win over unranked Miami.
USC vs. Cal State Fullerton Recap: The Titans took the short ride to USC to open the NCAA tournament and nearly came back with a win. CSUF led 2-0 and 3-2 before Morgan Andrews, who had the first two USC goals to tie it at 2-2, tied it again at 3-3 in the 67th minute. That's where it stayed through the 110th minute, when the Titans got into a hole by missing the on their first PK try as well as their fourth. Meanwhile, the Trojans were 4 for 4 with goals from Kayla Mills, Reilly Parker, Amanda Rooney and Mandy Freeman. USC outshot Fullerton 33-6 and Titans keeper Jennifer Stuart made 10 saves to keep her team in it.
On the Trojans: Morgan Andrews led the team in scoring coming into the Fullerton game and widened her lead, reaching 10 goals on the season with teammate Sydney Johnson second with five goals. Sammy Jo Prudhomme has played every second of the Trojans' 2,030 minutes in goal and has an 0.62 GAA. USC is 12-2 since mid-September with the only losses coming at Washington and Stanford, each by 1-0 finals. Fullerton's three goals were the most USC has allowed this season and it came after USC allowed only one goal over its final six games of the season. Prior to the Fullerton game, USC had allowed more than one goal only once all season, giving up two against North Carolina.
The Weather: As of Monday night, it's forecasted to be 50 degrees at halftime in Charlottesville, 23 degrees cooler than it's forecasted to be at 5 p.m. Friday on USC's campus. It'll likely be the coolest temperature for a game that USC has experience this season, though the relative cold hasn't bothered the Trojans in the past. USC took a late-season trip to Washington and Washington State a year ago and swept their conference foes, 2-1 at UW and 1-0 at WSU.
The Rankings: In the Nov. 10 NSCAA poll, the final poll until after the NCAA tournament concludes, the Trojans were No. 11 in the nation while the Tigers, who were No. 24 the week before, fell to the fourth team out of the poll after a scoreless tie at Penn. Monday, TopDrawerSoccer.com had USC 19th and Princeton 20th in the nation.
Princeton Against the Field: Princeton faced four of this year's NCAA tournament teams during the regular season, splitting the four games. Princeton opened with a 6-0 win over Howard on Aug. 30, followed that with a 3-0 loss to Rutgers on Sept. 3, then a 3-2 loss to Duquesne on Sept. 6, and later a 2-1 overtime win over William & Mary on Sept. 20. William & Mary, a winner in PKs over UCF, and Rutgers, a 1-0 winner over Fairleigh Dickinson, are still in, while Duquesne, which lost 4-0 to nearby West Virginia, and Howard, which lost 7-1 to Virginia, are out.
USC Against the Field: USC went 4-5-1 during the regular season against teams in the tournament, defeating Texas Tech, Washington State, Arizona and California, losing to Florida State, Duke, North Carolina, Washington and Stanford, and tying Long Beach State. The Trojans went 2-4 against teams still in the field (Texas Tech, Florida State, Duke, North Carolina, Arizona, Stanford).
All-Ivy: Princeton had six All-Ivy League honorees this season, including first-teamer and back-to-back Offensive Player of the Year Tyler Lussi, second-teamer and Rookie of the Year Mimi Asom, first-teamer Vanessa Gregoire, second-teamers Emily Sura and Natalie Larkin, and honorable mention Mikaela Symanovich.
All-Pac-12: USC had four All-Pac-12 honorees, including Defensive Player of the Year and first-teamer Kayla Mills, first-teamer Morgan Andrews, second-teamer Mandy Freeman and honorable mention Sammy Jo Prudhomme. Additionally, Ally Prisock was an All-Pac-12 freshman honoree.
Princeton's Coach: It's been quite a first go-around with Princeton for Sean Driscoll, who has tied the record for wins by a first-year Princeton coach (Bob Malekoff, 1980). He's just the third first-year Ivy coach to win an Ivy title in his or her first year (Ben Landis, Dartmouth, 2003; Erica Walsh, Dartmouth, 2000). He's just the second first-year Ivy coach to win a game in the tournament (Erica Walsh, Dartmouth, 2000). He's also topped his previous record for wins in a season as an NCAA head coach (12 with Manhattan, 2006). The NCAA appearance is his first as a player or coach in a career that saw him play at Denison in Ohio before serving as a head coach at the high school level in Connecticut, at Western Connecticut State and at Manhattan before becoming an assistant coach at Fairfield.
USC's Coach: Trojans head coach Keidane McAlpine is in his second year as USC's coach and has led the team to the tournament both times, with this year being his first NCAA win with USC. He's coached at Birmingham-Southern as an assistant and head coach, Auburn as an assistant coach and Washington State as a head coach before coming to USC.
Ivy in the Tournament: This year's Princeton team is aiming to become the fourth Ivy League team to make the Round of 16 since the 64-team field began in 2001. Dartmouth made the Round of 16 in 2001, Princeton made the semifinals in 2004, and Yale made the Round of 16 in 2005.
Princeton vs. Ranked Opponents: USC will be the third NSCAA-ranked team Princeton has faced this season. The Tigers beat No. 23 William & Mary 2-1 on Sept. 20 after losing to No. 22 Rutgers on Sept. 3.
Between the Posts: Princeton junior Hannah Winner is in her first season as Princeton's starting goalkeeper. She's 12-3-1 with with a 1.11 GAA this season.
Princeton in the NCAA Rankings: Princeton holds four top-10 Division I statistical rankings, including third in assists per game (2.78), fifth in points per game (7.89), sixth in goals per game (2.56), and eighth in total assists (50). Individually, Tyler Lussi is second in shots per game (5.83), and ninth in shots on goal per game (2.39). Mimi Asom's top ranking is 34th in total goals, with 12. Vanessa Gregoire, Jesse McDonough, Emily Sura and Mikaela Symanovich are all in the top 125 in total assists and assists per game, and Hannah Winner is 132nd in GAA at 1.11.
USC in the NCAA Rankings: The Trojans' top NCAA statistical ranking is 24th in shots per game, at 17.57. Morgan Andrews' top statistical ranking is 22nd in shots per game at 4.50, while Kayla Mills is 124th in total assists with six, and Sammy Jo Prudhomme's top statistical ranking is 25th in minutes played.