No. 23 Princeton to Visit Rider, Host Hofstra as Pre-Ivy Slate Continues

Thursday, September 6

Lawrenceville, N.J.

7:00 PM

Princeton University

Rider

Lucy Rickerson and the Tigers will make the short trip to Rider Thursday before hosting Hofstra Sunday.

Photo by: Beverly Schaefer

No. 23 Princeton to Visit Rider, Host Hofstra as Pre-Ivy Slate Continues

September 04, 2018 | Women's Soccer

#23 Princeton (3-1) at Rider (2-1-1), Thursday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Watch (ESPN Plus) | ESPN Plus FAQ | FREE ADMISSION
#23 Princeton vs. Hofstra (3-2), Sunday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m. | Live Stats | No Video | FREE ADMISSION

Princeton will aim to bounce back from taking its first loss of the season Sunday night to then-No. 13 North Carolina State at Roberts Stadium in a top-20 battle. Despite the defeat, Princeton remains in the United Soccer Coaches top 25, checking in at No. 23. Princeton is ranked 18th by Top Drawer Soccer.

Rematch with Rider: Last Sept. 7, Princeton and Rider, Mercer County's two Division I programs, met for the first time since 2005, with Princeton winning 2-0. Noelani Kong-Johnson, who finished Princeton's game Sunday night after starter Natalie Grossi received a red card, played against Rider in that game and made one save as Princeton outshot Rider 17-2 overall and 7-1 on goal. Current junior Courtney O'Brien had both goals for Princeton. That win propelled Princeton to 5-0 in the team's first game after the 2-and-0 trip to then-No. 20 N.C. State and then-No. 18 Wake Forest. Rider fell to 0-5 with the loss as part of an 0-7 start in a 5-10-3 season. The Broncs are already ahead of this point last year, at 2-1-1.

The prognostications: Princeton was the Ivy preseason pick, earning 15 of 16 first-place votes from athletic communications contacts and media members. It'd be Princeton's 10th Ivy title and first consecutive since three in a row from 2000-02. Rider was picked fifth in the MAAC with midfielder Valeria Pascuet as a preseason All-MAAC player. Hofstra was the preseason pick in the CAA with defender Madeline Anderson as the CAA Co-Preseason Player of the Year and midfielder Bella Richards as a fellow preseason all-conference honoree. It'll be Princeton's second meeting with a preseason predicted champion this season, as the Tigers beat America East pick New Hampshire 2-0 in the season opener two weeks ago. Princeton will face one more preseason predicted champ in Georgetown of the Big East next Thursday at Roberts.

The coach: Sean Driscoll is in his fourth season with the Tigers and is a two-time Ivy League Coach of the Year winner, earning the honor in the Ivy League championship seasons of 2015 and 2017. He's 43-11-5 in his first three-plus seasons with Princeton and has the best winning percentage (.771) of any Tiger coach, ahead of first coach Bob Malekoff (1980-84, 52-18-5, .727). He is the third-winningest coach in program history and could pass Malekoff this year to stand behind only predecessor Julie Shackford (203-115-29 from 1995-2014).

Rankings: In the first four United Soccer Coaches polls, including the preseason and the first three weeks, Princeton was ranked 13th, 14th, 20th and 23rd after ending last season ranked No. 7. Regionally, Princeton was second in the East in the first week and third each of the last two weeks. Georgetown, next Thursday's opponent at Roberts, has moved up to No. 8 in this week's national poll and is the top team in the East region.

Stat rankings: Entering Tuesday, Mimi Asom shared the No. 1 ranking in the nation in goals per game with Presbyterian's Kelsey Yeager. Both players had five goals in four games on the season. Asom was also sixth in points per game, at 2.5, seventh in shots per game, at 5.25, and 10th in total goals, with five.

The series with Rider: Princeton leads the all-time series 4-1 and has posted shutouts in all four wins, in 1997, 1999, 2005 and 2017, outscoring the Broncs 15-0 in those games. Rider won 2-1 in 1998, the only game in the series to take place at Rider.

The series with Hofstra: Princeton and Hofstra haven't met since 2010, and the Pride lead the series 3-1. Princeton won the first meeting, 4-0 in 2006 at Penn, but Hofstra won 1-0 in 2008 in Hempstead, 2-1 in 2009 at Roberts, and 1-0 in 2010 in Hempstead.

Climbing the charts: Senior Mimi Asom has 36 career goals and 80 career points. She could move up the points chart quickly, with Lauren Lazo '15 sixth at 82 points and Jen Hoy '13 fifth at 83 before Emily Behncke '06 stands fourth at 90 points. On the goals list, Asom stands tied for fifth with Hoy, three back of Behncke (39) for fourth and five back of Linda DeBoer '86 (41) for third.

Junior Natalie Grossi has 17 career shutouts as she looks to become the third player in Tiger history to hit the 20-shutout mark. Kelly O'Dell '84 holds the career record with 23.

On Rider: The Broncs, too, were unbeaten through three games before taking a home loss Sunday night, with Rider's coming to NJIT. Kourtney Cunningham and Sam Picinich have two goals apiece to lead Rider, and Carmen Carbonell, who played against Princeton last year, has played all 393 minutes in goal with a 1.14 GAA.

On Hofstra: The Pride will enter Thursday's game at Fairleigh Dickinson at 3-2 and have already played one opponent that Princeton has as well, Boston University. The Tigers beat BU 1-0 on Aug. 26 in Boston and the Pride beat BU 2-1 in double OT in Hempstead three days earlier. It'll be two top-25 opponents in the space of three games for the Pride, who fell 5-1 to then-No. 6 Virginia in Charlottesville last Sunday. Six players have split Hofstra's seven goals with Jenn Buoncore the only one with two entering the week, and Ashley Wilson (2-2, 2.16 GAA) and Jenna Borresen (1-0, 0.50) split time in goal in each of the team's first four games before Wilson went the distance against Virginia.

NCAAs: Last year's NCAA run was the 12th NCAA tournament appearance in program history for Princeton, which has been to the NCAAs in two of the last three seasons and three of the last six (2012, 2015, 2017). The quarterfinal run was the third time Princeton has made it that far and second time in the 64-team era. Princeton won a game in 1982 to make the quarters of a 12-team tournament, won four times in 2004 to make the semifinals, and advanced through three rounds to make the quarters last year.

Who's back: Princeton returns the scorers of 37 of 44 goals from last year, led by 12 from current junior Abby Givens, 10 from senior Mimi Asom and nine from junior Courtney O'Brien. Princeton earned a program-record nine All-Ivy League honors last year and five of those are back, including first-teamers Givens, Asom and O'Brien and honorable mentions sophomore Lucy Rickerson on defense and junior Natalie Grossi in goal.

Who's not back: Vanessa Gregoire '18, a midfielder, was the 11th Ivy League Player of the Year in program history, earning Co-Offensive Player of the Year recognition. The Tigers also graduated three 2017 second-team All-Ivy defenders in Mikaela Symanovich '18, Natalie Larkin '18 and Katie Pratt-Thompson '18. Lucy Rickerson, the only returning starter on the back line, has anchored the defense along with Tatum Gee and Eve Hewins so far this season with Olivia Sheppard, who has started all four games, getting the start in the back last time out against N.C. State.

Who's new: Princeton has a six-member freshman class, a group that includes reigning New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year forward/mid Amy Paternoster and Mexico U-20 team member forward Gabi Juarez, as well as midfielder Caroline Noonan, midfielder/defender Emma Davis, defender Aza Keohan and keeper Grace Barbara. All five field players in the group have played, with Juarez and Noonan making three starts and Davis and Keohan making two.