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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Michigan (First Round)
Princeton, Michigan to Meet Friday as NCAA Tournament Opens at Roberts Stadium
November 07, 2023 | Women's Soccer
vs. Michigan, Friday, 7 p.m., NCAA First Round | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats | Fan Information | Program | Tickets (first 200 Princeton University students free at the gate)
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 won a game in seven of its first 14 trips to the tournament and four of its last five, including three of its previous four under Driscoll.
NCAA experience: Eight Tiger juniors and seniors played in the team's 2021 NCAA tournament run, which included a 2-0 win over Vermont at the team's temporary home of Sherrerd Field at the Class of 1952 Stadium and 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 are the current Tigers who have scored NCAA tournament goals, and no current Tiger keeper has played in the NCAAs. On Michigan's side, the only players who scored or netminded in the team's 2019 or 2021 NCAA runs are Kacey Lawrence and Sammi Woods, who each had a goal in 2021, Lawrence against Bowling Green and Woods against Tennessee.
Against the NCAA field: Princeton played nine games this season against teams in the 2023 field, including Brown, Bucknell, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard (twice), Penn State, Rutgers and Quinnipiac, getting wins against Georgetown and Quinnipiac and ties against Harvard and Rutgers. Michigan also had nine games against NCAA tournament teams, getting a win over Notre Dame and ties against Penn State, Iowa and Pepperdine. Michigan did not play Big Ten NCAA tournament teams Wisconsin and Nebraska but did play Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana and Rutgers, as well as USC out-of-conference.
Ivy in the NCAAs: This is the third time in league history that four Ivies are in the NCAAs, joining 1999 and 2001. This is the first time that four Ivy teams will host NCAA tournament games. The only other conferences with as many as four schools hosting are the SEC (six), ACC (five) and Big Ten (five). The Ivy has had multiple bids annually from 2021-23, the longest multi-bid streak since 1998-2005.Â
Talkin' about Tordin: Pietra Tordin, a first-team All-Ivy Leaguer this season alongside teammates defender Madison Curry and midfielder Aria Nagai, led the Ivy in overall shots (67), game-winning goals (seven) and shots on goal (33) and co-led the league in goals (12) and points (30). She's 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.Â
On offense: At 34 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 1.33 GAA while authoring five solo or combined shutouts this season. 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.Â
Stat rankings: Princeton enters the tournament ranking 29th in the nation in assists per game at 2.06, among top-30 team rankings. Princeton's top-50 individual statistical rankings included Pietra Tordin's second-ranked seven game-winning goals, ninth-ranked 1.88 points per game, 11th-ranked 4.19 shots on goal per game, 12th-ranked 2.06 shots on goal per game, 15th-ranked 30 total points, and 20th-ranked 12 total goals. Michigan's top statistical ranking is 72nd with an .812 save percentage, paced by Stephanie Sparkowski's 78th-ranked 79 total saves.
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 92 wins are second-most in program history behind predecessor Julie Shackford, who had 203 wins in 20 seasons from 1995-2014.Â
OT rules: The overtime rules in college soccer changed ahead of the 2022 season. While overtime went away for the regular season, it became no longer "golden goal" in the postseason. If the game is tied after 90 minutes, it will go 110 minutes, no matter what happens during the OT periods. Penalty kicks would follow if the tie remains after 110 minutes, with the team that makes more of its five kicks advancing. If the teams have the same number of successful PKs after five, it'll go one by one until the tie is broken. Games that are decided in PKs (except for the national final) are considered ties for win-loss records. Teams will choose 10 kickers in order, and if the tie persists after the 10 kickers have gone, the same 10 kickers can be reordered.
Looking ahead: The winner will get the winner between Texas Tech and Florida Gulf Coast. All four games in Princeton's eighth of the bracket are scheduled for Friday night. Hosting duties will go to the highest-seeded team remaining among the four winners, whether second-seeded Texas Tech, third-seeded North Carolina, sixth-seeded Alabama or seventh-seeded Princeton with all four winners heading to that site for two rounds next weekend.Â
On Michigan: The Wolverines just missed out on making the Big Ten Tournament, which takes the top eight teams in the league. Iowa, which ended up winning the tournament, had the last spot at 3-4-3/12 points in the league while Northwestern, Michigan and Minnesota were next at 3-5-2/11 points. Michigan will have a layoff of nearly three weeks when it hits the field on Friday, having played last on Oct. 22, and will be looking for its first win since Oct. 1. Sammi Woods (8g/1a/17pts) and Gabrielle Prych (5g/4a/14pts) account for nearly 62 percent (13 of 21) of the team's goals and 48 percent (31 of 64) of the team's points. Stephanie Sparkowski has played nearly every minute in goal this season, accruing a 1.13 GAA. Of the Wolverines' 17 games this season, 13 have been ties or decided by one goal and two more have been decided by two goals. The team's most noteworthy win of the season was a 1-0 win on Sept. 7 over then-No. 11 Notre Dame, now a third seed in the NCAAs, with Prych scoring the goal. Michigan was in the NCAA quarterfinals just two seasons ago but didn't make the draw in 2022.Â
Roster connections: Michigan assistant coach Tori Christ was a goalie at Cornell and played against Princeton in 2012, a 5-1 Tiger win, and 2013, a 4-0 Tiger win. Michigan rookie Christa Hayden shares a hometown, Coto de Caza, Calif., with three-time first-team All-Ivy League Tiger Madison Curry. The NCAA trip will be to likely familiar territory for Michigan sophomore Taylor Brennan, who is from Newtown, Pa., and an alum of Council Rock North, just over the Delaware River from the Princeton area.
