Dueling Shutout Streaks to Meet Tuesday at Bucknell

It's been a while since either Bucknell keeper Dani Kaufman or Princeton keeper Natalie Grossi have allowed a goal. Neither of those streaks has to end, but either could when Princeton heads to Lewisburg, Pa., for the Tigers' final non-conference game of the regular season Tuesday night.

No. 14* Princeton at Bucknell, Tue., Oct. 3, 7 p.m. | Video | TV (list of select markets)| Live Stats
*A new United Soccer Coaches poll will be released Tuesday prior to the game

On the road again
The game is the second of three straight road games for Princeton after five in a row at home. The Tigers will end the road swing at Brown Saturday. So far, being away from Roberts Stadium hasn't been a problem for Princeton, which is 4-0 on the road this season and hasn't allowed a goal, outscoring Villanova, N.C. State, Wake Forest and Dartmouth a combined 8-0.

The shutout streaks
Bucknell hasn't allowed a goal in 557:39 since Tennessee, which enters the week ranked 25th in the nation, scored in a 1-0 win in Lewisburg on Sept. 7. Bucknell is 6-0 since then. Princeton hasn't allowed a goal in 341:43 since West Virginia, which enters the week ranked ninth in the nation, scored in a 1-0 win at Roberts Stadium on Sept. 15. Princeton is 3-0 since then.

More shutouts
Princeton has blanked eight of its 10 opponents this season, the eighth time in program history and first time since 2009 Princeton has posted at least eight shutouts in a season. The record is 13 shutouts in a season, achieved by the 2000 team. Grossi has seven of those shutouts, three short of the program record of 10 shutouts in a season posted by Kelly O'Dell '84 in 1981.

All-time series
Princeton is 6-1-1 against Bucknell and the current Tigers have only faced the Bison once, a 1-1 tie last year at Roberts Stadium in which Asom had a 70th-minute goal to tie it and Grossi was between the posts. Kendall Ham, back for her senior year with the Bison, had Bucknell's goal in that game.

On Bucknell
The Bison have played ranked teams tough this year, falling 2-0 at Duke, which enters the week ranked fourth in the country, on Aug. 25 and 1-0 at home against Tennessee, which was ranked 25th entering the week, on Sept. 7. Princeton and Bucknell have one common opponent each has faced so far, with Bucknell winning at Rider 2-1 in OT on Sept. 3 and Princeton defeating the Broncs at home, 2-0 on Sept. 7.

Best Starts
Princeton's 9-1 record is only the fifth time the team has had at least that record through 10 games, joining 1980 (10-0), 1981 (9-1), 2002 (10-0) and 2004 (9-1). If Princeton gets to 10-1, it'd also be the fifth time, also joining 1980 (11-0), 1981 (10-1), 2002 (11-0) and 2004 (10-1).

Climbing the Charts
Junior Mimi Asom stands at 25 career goals, putting her into a tie for ninth on the program's all-time goals list with Dana DeCore '00. Just four more goals will put her alone in sixth place, with Diana Matheson '08 (26), Amelia Reyes '01 (26) and Lauren Lazo '15 (28) just in front of her. The rest of the list is more spread out, with former teammate Tyler Lussi '17 (53) at the top, followed by Esmeralda Negron '05 (47), Linda DeBoer '86 (41), Emily Behncke '06 (39) and Jen Hoy '13 (36).

Firsts
Of the seven Tigers to score a goal this year, three scored their first career goal this season. The list includes sophomore Courtney O'Brien, who is tied for second on the team alongside Asom with four goals and behind only classmate Abby Givens (eight), as well as rookies Carolyne Davidson (one) and Olivia Kane (one). Senior Mikaela Symanovich has scored twice this season, her first goals since her freshman year, and Givens has already more than doubled her freshman total of three. Givens' eight goals enter the week co-leading the Ivy with Columbia's Natalie Neshat.

RPI
Princeton is ranked sixth in the latest RPI, which came out Monday. As of that RPI, Princeton has one more top-100 RPI opponent this season in Columbia (98), with Brown close at 109 and Harvard at 129. The Tigers have Brown and Harvard on the road and Columbia at home, all in the next three weeks.

Rankings
Princeton ranked 14th in last Tuesday's United Soccer Coaches poll, the third consecutive week Princeton has been ranked. The Tigers were 20th in the Sept. 12 poll and 16th in the Sept. 19 poll, and 14th is the highest Princeton has been ranked since the Tigers were fourth at the end of the 2004 season, following the team's run to the NCAA College Cup semifinals. Princeton was also 11th in this week's TopDrawerSoccer poll, up three spots from last week, and 14th in this week's Soccer America poll, steady from the previous week. A new United Soccer Coaches polls will be out Tuesday.

Stat Rankings
Princeton's top statistical rankings are all in the team's stingy defense, which has allowed only two goals all season. Princeton's 0.200 GAA is second only to Butler (0.158) in all of Division I. The Tigers' .920 save percentage is third (Butler is first at .960, Milwaukee is second at .933), and the team's .800 shutout percentage is fourth (Butler, Rutgers, Georgetown all co-lead at .833). Princeton's .900 winning percentage is seventh in the nation.

Individually, Grossi's 0.22 GAA is second to Butler's Hannah Luedtke (0.154), her .917 save percentage is sixth, and her seven shutouts are eighth. Vanessa Gregoire, who is just two assists short of tying the program record of 26 career assists co-held by Lauren Lazo '15 and fellow Canadian Diana Matheson '08, is 19th in the nation at 0.56 assists per game. Givens, the team's scoring leader at eight goals, is fifth in the nation at 0.89 goals per game, ninth at 2.00 points per game, 22nd in total goals (eight) and 28th in total points (18).

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