.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Monmouth
NCAA Tournament Comes to Roberts Stadium as No. 13 Princeton Hosts Monmouth Friday
November 08, 2017 | Women's Soccer
*The first 200 Princeton students will gain free admission. Pick up tickets at the gate.
No. 12: This weekend marks Princeton's 12th appearance in the NCAA tournament. Princeton was in the first two tournaments in 1982 and 1983 before returning annually from 1999-2004. Princeton has won its first-round match in each of its last two NCAA tournaments, at West Virginia in 2012 and at home against Boston College in 2015.
NCAA Tournament Returns to Roberts: Princeton will host an NCAA tournament game for the second time in three years after not hosting a game since 2004. The Tigers beat Boston College 4-2 in the first round in 2015.
Princeton vs. Monmouth: The Hawks lead the all-time series 9-5, but the teams hadn't played since 2002 until resuming the series last year. Princeton won 2-1 last year at Monmouth on a Mimi Asom goal in double OT after Abby Givens scored in regulation, and the Tigers got goals from Givens (two) and Natalie Larkin in Princeton's season opener this year on Aug. 25 at Roberts, 3-0.
Princeton vs. N.C. State and Arkansas: Should the Tigers be fortunate enough to advance, they could have another rematch game. Princeton won 2-0 at N.C. State on Sept. 2 and is 2-0 against the Wolfpack, winning 2-0 at Roberts in 2014. Princeton has never faced Arkansas.
Common opponents vs. Monmouth: Princeton and Monmouth have both faced Rider this season. The Tigers beat Rider 2-0 at Roberts on Sept. 7 and Monmouth beat the Broncs 1-0 at Monmouth on Sept. 27.
Shutouts: Princeton is closing in on both team and individual shutout records. Natalie Grossi's 10 shutouts are tied for the program record with Kelly O'Dell '84 in 1981, and the Tigers' 11 shutouts this year are third all-time, behind the 12 in 2004 and 13 in 2000.
Ivy and the NCAA: Princeton has two of the Ivy's three NCAA wins since Yale was the last Ivy team to win more than one game in an NCAA tournament in 2005. The Tigers beat West Virginia in 2012 and Boston College in 2015 and Harvard beat Central Connecticut State in 2014. Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale have all won NCAA games in their histories.
Stat rankings: Princeton's .875 (14-2) winning percentage is fifth in the nation, its 0.375 GAA is seventh, its .688 shutout percentage is seventh, its .885 save percentage is eighth, its 2.25 goals per game is 16th, its 6.5 points per game is 17th, and its 2.00 assists per game is 17th. Natalie Grossi's 0.40 GAA is seventh, her 10 shutouts are 12th, and her .880 save percentage is 16th. Despite being ranked in the top 20 in goals and points per game, Princeton has no single player in the top 30 in either stat but three in the top 75 in goals per game (Abby Givens, 31st, 0.64, Courtney O'Brien, 56th, 0.56, Mimi Asom, 70th, 0.53), and three in the top 130 in points per game (Givens, 15th, 1.71, O'Brien, 91st, 1.25, Asom, 127th, 1.13).Â
Path to the postseason: Princeton fell 2-0 to Columbia on Oct. 14 at Roberts to find themselves three points behind the Lions with three games to play. Princeton won its last three while Columbia won the following week but lost to Yale on Oct. 28 and tied Harvard on Nov. 4, allowing Princeton to get past the Lions and win the Ivy title by two standings points, 18-16. The outcome gave Princeton its ninth Ivy League title overall and fifth outright, joining 2002, 2004, 2012 and 2015.
Close to home: Princeton has three New Jerseyans on the roster, but one's hometown is especially close to Monmouth. Junior Samantha McDonough went to Shore Regional High School, just two miles from Monmouth.
Coach Sean Driscoll: Princeton coach Sean Driscoll has the top winning percentage in program history at .769 (38-10-4) and is a two-time Ivy League Coach of the Year (2015, 2017), earning the honor in two of the four years it's been awarded. His 38 wins are already third-most in program history behind the program's first coach, Bob Malekoff (52, five seasons), and predecessor Julie Shackford (203, 20 seasons).
National rankings: Princeton debuted in the United Soccer Coaches rankings on Sept. 12 at No. 20 and climbed as high as No. 11 before the Oct. 14 loss to Columbia dropped the Tigers to No. 17. Princeton has since risen to No. 13 in the poll, where it has been the last two weeks. The Tigers were also No. 6 in the latest TopDrawerSoccer poll, No. 10 in the SoccerAmerica poll and ninth in the latest NCAA RPI.
Best records: Princeton's 14-2 record is in select company in program history. Princeton was 14-2 in 1980 and 14-2 on the way to 19-3 in 2004 as the only times the team was at least 14-2 through 16 games. One more win would put the 2017 team alone for second-most wins in program history behind the 2004 team (19). Presently, the 2017 Tigers are tied for second with the 1980, 2001, 2012 and 2015 teams at 14 wins.
The goal scorers: Nine Tigers have scored this season, combining for 36 goals. All but six of those goals have come from players able to return next year, with a trio of non-forwards in Symanovich (two), Gregoire (three) and Larkin (one) accounting for the Class of 2018's goals. Four of the nine have scored their first career goals this season, including sophomore O'Brien (nine) and rookies Olivia Kane (two), Carolyne Davidson and Hewins (one each). Sophomores Givens and O'Brien lead the team with nine each while junior Asom has eight.
Score early, not often: Princeton has given up six goals this season while scoring 36. All but two of those six goals allowed have come in the game's first 20 minutes with one more, Oct. 21 against Harvard, coming in the 31st. West Virginia scored in the 19th minute on Sept. 15, Brown scored in the 10th minute on Oct. 7, and Columbia scored in the 10th and 11th minutes on Oct. 14.
On Monmouth: The Hawks started 0-2-1, including the Aug. 25 loss to Princeton, but went 15-1-1 since. Monmouth's Amanda Knaub is ranked fifth nationally with 11 shutouts. Since Princeton scored three on Knaub and the Hawks, no team has scored more than two, and only one team, Marist (Oct. 11, 2-1) has scored that many. Knaub won the MAAC's Goalkeeper of the Year award while Gabriella Cuevas was the Defensive Player of the Year and Krissy Turner won Coach of the Year. Cuevas, Knaub, forward Madie Gibson, and midfielders Alli DeLuca and Miranda Konstantinides were first-team All-MAAC, while forward Rachelle Ross and defender Anna Lazur were second-team All-MAAC and defender Sarina Jones was a MAAC all-rookie defender.
Individual Notes
Sophomore forward Abby Givens tripled her freshman-year goal total during the regular season on the way to a first-team All-Ivy League honor. She is a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week honoree this season. She has three career two-goal games, all this season.
Junior forward Mimi Asom earned first-team All-Ivy League honors for the first time after two second-team honors and a Rookie of the Year recognition in 2017. Her 29 career goals stand sixth in program history (Jen Hoy '13 is fifth with 36), and her 64 career points stand eighth (Diana Matheson '08 is seventh with 78). She has four career multi-goal games with one hat trick, Oct. 29, 2016 at Cornell.
Sophomore forward Courtney O'Brien has scored all nine of her career goals this season on the way to a first-team All-Ivy League recognition. She has scored in bunches, netting four two-goal games this season.
Senior midfielder Vanessa Gregoire was named the Ivy League's Co-Offensive Player of the Year, the second Tiger to receive the honor (Tyler Lussi'17, 2014, 2015) since it was split into Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year for the 2013 season. It was the 11th time a Princeton player won an Ivy Player of the Year honor. Her 24 career assists are two off the record co-held by fellow Canadian Diana Matheson '08 and former teammate Lauren Lazo '15.
