Yale is First Up as Ivy Title Defense Begins for No. 25 Princeton

The first RPI of the 2018 season was announced Monday, and Princeton checked in 30th of all 333 Division I teams. The next-highest Ivy team? This week's opponent, Yale, which was 83rd.

#25 Princeton at Yale, Saturday, Sept. 22, 4 p.m. | ESPN + | Live Stats

Princeton was the preseason pick in the Ivy, earning 15 of the 16 first-place votes in the preseason poll, while Yale was picked fourth. If the prediction comes true, it'd be Princeton's 10th Ivy League title and first back-to-back since three in a row from 2002-04.

The Bulldogs have been Princeton's first Ivy League opponent every year since 2008, and while the current Tiger crop has never lost to Yale, Princeton's last trip to New Haven resulted in a 1-1 tie before last year's 2-0 win.

Both keepers from that 2016 tie - Natalie Grossi for Princeton and Alyssa Fagel for Yale - are back this year, as are the two goal-scorers, in Abby Givens, who put Princeton up in the 19th minute, and Aerial Chavarin, who tied it in the 74th as Yale outshot Princeton 13-12 overall and 5-4 on goal. Last year's game on Myslik Field came with Princeton ranked 16th in the country, and Mimi Asom (14') and Olivia Kane (85') scored in helping Princeton outshoot Yale 14-5 overall and 6-2 on goal in a rematch between Grossi and Fagel.

The two keepers will likely meet for a third time Saturday, with Fagel having played better than 90 percent of her team's minutes and Grossi logging more than 85 percent of Princeton's.

Princeton leads the all-time series 25-12-3.

Coaching ranks: Princeton's Sean Driscoll, who has won the Ivy League Coach of the Year honor in two of his first three years as Princeton's coach, is 45-12-6 in his first three-plus seasons leading the program. His .762 winning percentage is the best in program history, and he is just seven wins behind Bob Malekoff, the program's first coach and second-winningest coach, who has 52 wins. Driscoll's predecessor, Julie Shackford, won 203 games over her 20 seasons to stand as the program's winningest coach.

Asom's chart climb: Mimi Asom enters the weekend with 37 goals and 82 career points. The 37 goals put her fifth in program history, two back of Emily Behncke '06 for fourth, and the 82 points tie her for sixth with Lauren Lazo '15. Jen Hoy '13 is fifth with 83 and Behncke is fourth with 90.

Shutouts: Natalie Grossi has added four shutouts to her career total this year, bringing that to 19. She's tied for third on Princeton's career shutout list with Dodie Colavecchio '88, three back of Jordan Rettig '01 (22) and four back of Kelly O'Dell '84 (23) for the record. One more shutout will make Grossi just the ninth Ivy Leaguer with 20, and Dartmouth alumna Kristen Luckenbill (1997-00) holds the record with 29.

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