Wednesday Trip to Penn Ahead as Ivy Season Continues

The third of seven Ivy League games is Wednesday for the Princeton women's soccer team at Penn as the chase for an Ivy title and a spot in the inaugural Ivy tournament continues.

at Penn, Wed., 6 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats

Ivy standings: All eight Ivy teams will face their travel partners on Wednesday, and all are two games into the Ivy season. Dartmouth and Brown lead at 2-0 with Columbia, Princeton and Harvard at 1-1. Yale and Penn are 0-1-1 and Cornell stands 0-2.

In the rankings: Princeton's No. 13 ranking in the Sept. 26 poll marked the 23rd time in eight competitive seasons under Sean Driscoll that Princeton has been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches top 25. The No. 13 ranking was Princeton's highest since Aug. 7, 2018, when the Tigers were also No. 13. Princeton's highest ranking under Driscoll was on Dec. 5, 2017, when that year's team, which made the NCAA quarterfinals, finished the season ranked No. 7. Princeton has now been ranked in the top 15 in 11 weeks under Driscoll, all in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, prior to the last two polls. Princeton's jump from not receiving votes in the rankings on Sept 12 to No. 14 on Sept. 19 was the highest for any team in the United Soccer Coaches Division I women's top-25 poll since Pittsburgh also jumped from not receiving votes to No. 14 in the Sept. 27, 2022 poll.

Talkin' about Tordin: Pietra Tordin has nine goals this season and has scored five game-winning goals. Tordin, who has already scored more goals this season than in her Ivy League Rookie of the Year season of 2022 (eight), is a goal away from turning in the 22nd season in program history, which dates back to 1980, in which a player scored 10 or more goals. It would be the 11th season in program history that saw a sophomore or younger score 10-plus. Esmeralda Negron '05 holds the program's single-season goal record of 20, set in her senior season of 2004, and Tyler Lussi '17, who put in 18 in her sophomore season of 2014, has the most in a season for a sophomore or younger. Tordin is also just a goal away from joining the top 15 in program history in career goals scored, as an 18th career goal would put her in a three-way tie for 14th in program history.

On offense: Princeton is averaging 2.5 goals a game so far this season, and at 25 goals, has equaled its goal total from all of last season. The last time Princeton ended a season with a goals-per-game average that high was 2012, when the Tigers finished scoring 2.74 goals a game. Princeton has seen 10 players score a goal this season, marking the second time in three seasons that Princeton has seen 10-plus goal scorers. In 2021, 14 Tigers scored a goal.

SOG against: Princeton is on pace to hold its opponents to a Driscoll-era low average of shots on goal per game. Through the season's first eight games, Princeton is holding opponents to an average of 3.7 shots on goal per game. In Driscoll's first seven competitive seasons as Princeton's head coach, the Tigers have allowed between 4.0 (2017) and 5.2 (2019) shots on goal per game at season's end.

Between the posts: Junior Tyler McCamey has played most of the minutes in goal this season, accruing an 1.47 GAA while authoring solo or combined shutouts in each of Princeton's first three games of the season, against Monmouth, La Salle (shared) and Rutgers.

Stat rankings: Entering the week, Princeton ranked 15th in the nation in assists per game at 2.60, 16th in points per game at 7.60, and 26th in goals per game at 2.50, among top-30 rankings. Princeton's top-50 individual statistical rankings included Pietra Tordin's fourth-ranked five game-winning goals, 10th-ranked 2.10 points per game, 12th-ranked 0.90 goals per game, 16th-ranked 4.20 shots per game, 17th-ranked nine total goals, 18th-ranked 21 total points, and 29th-ranked 1.90 shots on goal per game, as well as Lily Bryant's 35th-ranked 0.50 assists per game and 49th-ranked five total assists. Penn held the 27th-ranked save percentage, at .848, with keeper Laurence Gladu 33rd in GAA at 0.636, 40th in save percentage at .833, and 41st in shutouts, with five.

Coach Driscoll: Sean Driscoll is in his eighth competitive season leading Princeton. A three-time Ivy Coach of the Year (2015, 2017, 2018), Driscoll has led Princeton to Ivy titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018, NCAA tournament bids in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2021, the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2015, 2017 and 2021, and the NCAA quarterfinals in 2017. Driscoll's 89 wins are second-most in program history behind predecessor Julie Shackford, who had 203 wins in 20 seasons from 1995-2014.

Series history: Princeton leads the all-time series with Penn 22-10-4. The Tigers have won five straight over Penn and are unbeaten since Penn's last win in the series in 2014. Under Sean Driscoll, Princeton has a 5-0-2 record against Penn and has outscored the Quakers 7-2. In last year's meeting, Princeton won 2-1 with current Quaker Anuli Okafor opening the scoring in the 34th minute before Grace Sherman '23 tied it for the Tigers in the 47th and Kelsee Wozniak had the eventual game-winner in the 51st. Laurence Gladu was in goal for the Quakers while Tyler McCamey played in the second half, turning in a shutout in those 45 minutes. Marissa Hart had the lone goal in Princeton's 1-0 win at Penn in 2021 with Gladu playing the full 90 between the posts for the Quakers.

On Penn: The Quakers are 5-4-2 overall and 0-1-1 in the Ivy. In nine of Penn's 11 games, the teams have combined for one or two goals, and in all 11, no more than three. Seven players have split Penn's 10 goals this season. Mallory Lucas, Abbey Cook and Lauren Teuschl have each scored two goals. Laurence Gladu has played all 990 minutes in goal and has an 0.64 GAA.

Up next: The Tigers will play at Roberts Stadium for the first time since Sept. 22, hosting Yale on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results