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Princeton University Athletics
Junior Courtney O'Brien and the Tigers are picked to repeat as Ivy League champions.
Photo by: Beverly Schaefer
Women's Soccer Team a Near-Unanimous Pick to Repeat as Ivy Champs
August 21, 2018 | Women's Soccer
When you make a run to the NCAA quarterfinals and return the scorers of 37 of 44 goals from that season, prognosticators will like your chances to repeat.
They certainly do for the Princeton women's soccer team, which earned 15 of 16 first-place votes in the Ivy League's preseason poll as the league office made its announcement Tuesday.
Princeton's battle with Columbia for the 2017 league crown went down the final seconds of the league season, with the Lions needing a win over Harvard on the last Saturday night to secure the league crown. When Harvard held on for a scoreless tie to force Columbia to finish the league season with a 5-1-1 record, Princeton won the outright league title at 6-1 with its only loss to Columbia.
The Tigers went on to defeat Monmouth at Roberts Stadium to open the NCAA tournament, advance past North Carolina State in penalty kicks, shock North Carolina in overtime, and finish the season with a quarterfinal trip to eventual national runner-up UCLA to wind up ranked No. 7 in the country by the United Soccer Coaches.
The Lions earned the lone first-place vote Princeton didn't get in the 2018 Ivy League preseason poll, voted on by athletic communications contacts at the eight schools plus a media member from each. Princeton was picked second on the ballot that listed Columbia first, finishing with 127 poll points to the Lions' runner-up 100. Brown (89), Yale (87), Harvard (67), Penn (53), Dartmouth (35) and Cornell (18) rounded out the poll.
Princeton's battle with Columbia will be on national TV this year, with ESPNU broadcasting from New York when the Tigers head to the northern tip of Manhattan for a 3 p.m. start Sunday, Oct. 14. If the Tigers can fulfill the prediction and win the league, it'd be Princeton's 10th Ivy League title and first back-to-back championships since three straight from 2000-02. It'd be the first time any Ivy has gone back-to-back since Harvard in 2013 and 2014, and Princeton would join Harvard (13) and Brown (12) with double-figure league titles.
Though the Tigers return junior keeper Natalie Grossi and its three leading scorers from last season in junior Abby Givens (12), senior Mimi Asom (10) and junior Courtney O'Brien (nine), Princeton graduated defensive standouts in 2017 All-Ivy honorees Mikaela Symanovich, Katie Pratt-Thompson and Natalie Larkin, plus Ivy League Co-Offensive Player of the Year Vanessa Gregoire from the midfield.Â
Princeton, which opened this season ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, will begin play Friday at New Hampshire.
They certainly do for the Princeton women's soccer team, which earned 15 of 16 first-place votes in the Ivy League's preseason poll as the league office made its announcement Tuesday.
Princeton's battle with Columbia for the 2017 league crown went down the final seconds of the league season, with the Lions needing a win over Harvard on the last Saturday night to secure the league crown. When Harvard held on for a scoreless tie to force Columbia to finish the league season with a 5-1-1 record, Princeton won the outright league title at 6-1 with its only loss to Columbia.
The Tigers went on to defeat Monmouth at Roberts Stadium to open the NCAA tournament, advance past North Carolina State in penalty kicks, shock North Carolina in overtime, and finish the season with a quarterfinal trip to eventual national runner-up UCLA to wind up ranked No. 7 in the country by the United Soccer Coaches.
The Lions earned the lone first-place vote Princeton didn't get in the 2018 Ivy League preseason poll, voted on by athletic communications contacts at the eight schools plus a media member from each. Princeton was picked second on the ballot that listed Columbia first, finishing with 127 poll points to the Lions' runner-up 100. Brown (89), Yale (87), Harvard (67), Penn (53), Dartmouth (35) and Cornell (18) rounded out the poll.
Princeton's battle with Columbia will be on national TV this year, with ESPNU broadcasting from New York when the Tigers head to the northern tip of Manhattan for a 3 p.m. start Sunday, Oct. 14. If the Tigers can fulfill the prediction and win the league, it'd be Princeton's 10th Ivy League title and first back-to-back championships since three straight from 2000-02. It'd be the first time any Ivy has gone back-to-back since Harvard in 2013 and 2014, and Princeton would join Harvard (13) and Brown (12) with double-figure league titles.
Though the Tigers return junior keeper Natalie Grossi and its three leading scorers from last season in junior Abby Givens (12), senior Mimi Asom (10) and junior Courtney O'Brien (nine), Princeton graduated defensive standouts in 2017 All-Ivy honorees Mikaela Symanovich, Katie Pratt-Thompson and Natalie Larkin, plus Ivy League Co-Offensive Player of the Year Vanessa Gregoire from the midfield.Â
Princeton, which opened this season ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, will begin play Friday at New Hampshire.
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