Princeton to Head to Texas Tech for Friday's NCAA Second-Round Match

Following last Friday's NCAA tournament-opening win over Michigan at Roberts Stadium, the Princeton women's soccer team will head to Texas Tech, ranked No. 4 in the nation and holding the second seed in Princeton's quarter of the bracket, where the Tigers are seeded seventh.

at Texas Tech, Friday, 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | Live Stats

NCAA tournament history: Princeton is in the NCAAs for the 15th time, 11th time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 2001, and fifth time in the eight competitive seasons under Sean Driscoll. Princeton has now won a game in eight of its trips to the tournament and five of its last six, including four of its five trips under Driscoll.

Back again: Princeton returns to Texas Tech for the NCAA tournament five years after the teams met in a first-round game in 2018 that the Red Raiders won 3-0. None of the current players for either team were part of that game, but both head coaches in Princeton's Sean Driscoll and Texas Tech's Tom Stone were at their posts for the 2018 tournament opener.

NCAA experience: Eight Tiger juniors and seniors played have now played in both the 2021 and 2023 NCAA tournaments, winning a first-round game each time. Princeton's last trip to the second round was a short trip up to Rutgers for a round-of-32 game against TCU that saw Princeton lead 2-1 with less than two minutes to go in regulation before TCU tied it and then won it with less than five minutes to go in the second overtime. Lily Bryant and Jen Estes had the goals in that game.

Ivy in the NCAAs: It's the third time four Ivy teams earned a bid to the NCAA tournament (1999, 2001) and the first time that four Ivies won a game in the tournament. The Ivy (four) edges out the Big 12 (three) in second-round teams by one and is one of just four conferences with four or more second-round teams, joining the SEC (seven), ACC (five) and Big Ten (five).

Talkin' about Tordin: Pietra Tordin, who missed Princeton's regular-season finale against Columbia to train with the Brazilian U-20 team in that country, is a first-team All-Ivy Leaguer this season alongside teammates defender Madison Curry and midfielder Aria Nagai, enters the second weekend of the NCAAs leading the Ivy in shots (75), shots on goal (36) and game-winning goals (seven). Tordin's 12 goals this season are second only to Ivy Player of the Year Brittany Raphino of Brown, who has 13. Tordin is tied for ninth on the program list for goals in a season and already 14th on the program's all-time career goals list with 20 and two-plus seasons go to.

On offense: At 35 goals, Princeton has well eclipsed its goal total from all of last season (25). Princeton has seen 11 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 combined to score 43 goals.

Between the posts: Junior Tyler McCamey has played most of the minutes in goal this season, accruing a 1.26 GAA while authoring six solo or combined shutouts this season, including last weekend against Michigan. She earned Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 9 for shutting out Penn and then holding Yale to a goal with 10 saves between the two games in a 2-0 week.

Stat rankings: Princeton enters the weekend with its top statistical ranking as 30th in shots per game, with 16.56. Pietra Tordin's seven game-winning goals are third, her 2.12 shots on goal per game are seventh, her 1.76 points per game are ninth, and her 4.41 shots per game are ninth. In Texas Tech, Princeton will be facing the nation's eighth-toughest team to score on, allowing just 0.476 goals per game. Madison White ranks third with 12 shutouts and 10th in GAA at 0.476. Ashleigh Williams' 14 goals are 10th in the nation, and her 34 total points are ninth.

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, 2021 and now 2023, the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2015, 2017 and 2021, and the NCAA quarterfinals in 2017. Driscoll's 93 wins are second-most in program history behind predecessor Julie Shackford, who had 203 wins in 20 seasons from 1995-2014.

Looking ahead: Should Princeton advance, it has history against just one of its two potential round-of-16 opponents. Princeton stunned North Carolina 2-1 in overtime in the round of 16 in 2017 when the Tar Heels were ranked No. 2 in the country. Texas Tech is ranked No. 4 nationally, and a win would be Princeton's highest-ranked since that 2017 win over UNC. Princeton lost 4-0 to UNC in the quarterfinals of the 1982 NCAAs. Princeton has never faced Alabama, and the Tigers have had just two games all-time against SEC teams, a 2004 3-0 win over Vanderbilt in a game played at Penn and last season's 2-0 home loss to LSU.

Against the top 10: Friday's game will be the 12th in Sean Driscoll's eight competitive seasons leading the program. Princeton has won three of those games, the aforementioned 2017 game against No. 2 UNC, a 2021 4-3 regular-season win at No. 9 Rutgers, and the 3-2 win over No. 10 Georgetown earlier this season in Princeton. It'll be the third top-10 opponent of the season for the Tigers, along with then-No. 6 Penn State and Georgetown.

On Texas Tech: While Texas Tech knocked Princeton out of the 2018 tournament, the Red Raiders returned the next season in 2019 and again made the second round but didn't return after that until this season. A win on Friday would match Texas Tech's deepest NCAA run along with 2014, and two wins this weekend would send the Red Raiders to the quarters for the first time. Texas Tech had its first loss of the season when Texas knocked the Red Raiders out of the Big 12 Tournament in the semis. TTU bounced back with last weekend's 1-0 win over Florida Gulf Coast to open the NCAAs. Nine players have scored goals this season with Ashleigh Williams (14) and Alex Kerr (11) leading the way. Madison White has played every minute in goal, accruing an 0.48 GAA.

Roster connections: Princeton has one Texan on the roster in rookie goalkeeper Cecilia Cerone, who went to Grapevine High School in between Dallas and Fort Worth.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results