Lussi Becomes Princeton's All-Time Top Scorer in Women's Soccer's 4-0 Win at Howard

Sunday, September 4

Washington, DC

11:00 AM

Princeton University

4-0-0

Howard

2-2-1

Princeton

Howard

Lussi Becomes Princeton's All-Time Top Scorer in Women's Soccer's 4-0 Win at Howard

September 04, 2016 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Tyler Lussi picked up two goals to become the program's all-time leading scorer and the Princeton women's soccer team picked up a 4-0 win at Howard Sunday to bring a 4-0 record back home after the first two weekends of the new campaign.

Lussi's fourth goal of the season came on a 17th-minute penalty kick to help Princeton take a 1-0 lead into the break. Tomi Kennedy's first career goal in the 51st minute doubled the lead and Vanessa Gregoire, who provided the game-saving goal in the waning seconds of regulation in Friday night's eventual overtime win at Delaware, pushed the lead to 3-0 in the 71st minute. Little more than two minutes later, Gregoire connected with Lussi for the record-breaker, and Princeton left the nation's capital with the four-goal win.

Lussi's 48 career goals put her one ahead of Esmeralda Negron '05, who had held the record for 12 years after breaking the 19-year-old mark of 41 set by Linda DeBoer '86.

"Twenty-eight of us today, plus our coaches, achieved 48 goals," Lussi said. "It's just an incredible experience to be with this team all the time, working so hard together. (My club coach, who is a Howard assistant) knew that I wanted to break Es's record since I was a junior in high school. It was definitely an incredible moment for that to happen, and what an incredible place Princeton is where you can play and follow in the footsteps in people like Es [a former Princeton assistant coach], who recruited an convinced me to come to Princeton."

The record-breaking goal came just more than an hour from home for the Baltimore-area native.

"I had a lot of family here at the game. It just meant a lot," Lussi said. "It was really nice."

Next on the record chase is Princeton's all-time points mark, which Negron holds at 112. Lussi's four points Sunday put her at 109 heading into Friday's 7 p.m. game at Roberts Stadium against Temple.

On the Ivy League list, Lussi is nearing becoming the league's most prolific scorer in almost 30 years. Penn alum Katy Cross, who finished with 50 goals, is the only leaguer since 1988 to hit the half-century mark. Harvard's Kelly Landry (68) and Sue St. Louis (66) and Brown's Theresa Hirschauer (62) reached their totals in the 1980s, with Hirschauer, the most recent of the three, finishing her career in 1988. That trio also occupies the top three spots on the league's points list, led by Landry at 160, St. Louis at 148 and Hirschauer at 131. Lussi is presently seventh on that list, behind those three, Cross (125), Negron (112) and Harvard's Emily Stauffer (110).

Princeton's 4-0 start is its best since 2004, and if the Tigers can win Friday night against Temple, it'd be the program's first 5-0 start since 2002.

Rookie Natalie Grossi, who has played every minute of the first four games between the posts, completed the shutout without having to make a save as Princeton outshot Howard 14-5 overall and 12-0 on goal.