Tuesday Trip to Lafayette Ahead for No. 14 Princeton

Enjoying its highest United Soccer Coaches poll ranking since 2018, the No. 14-ranked Princeton women's soccer team will make the trip up to Lafayette for a non-conference game Tuesday night.

at Lafayette, Tuesday, 7 p.m. | YouTube | Live Stats

In the rankings: With a new poll set to come out Tuesday afternoon just before the game, Princeton's ranking in last week's poll marked the 22nd time in eight competitive seasons under Sean Driscoll that Princeton has been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches top 25. The No. 14 ranking was Princeton's highest since Aug. 21, 2018, when the Tigers were also No. 14. 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 been ranked in the top 15 nine weeks under Driscoll, all in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Princeton's jump from not receiving votes to No. 14 in the rankings 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.

Tordin on a tear: 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 2.9 goals a game so far this season, and at 23 goals, is just two goals from equaling its goal total from all of last season. The last time Princeton ended a season with a goals-per-game average that high was 1982, when the Tigers finished scoring 3.3 goals a game. It would be the fourth-highest single-season scoring average, behind 1982, 3.1 in 1981 and a program-record 3.6 in 1980. With Aria Nagai and Marissa Hart joining the list of Princeton goal scorers this season, 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 3.8 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 1.46 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 Friday's game, Princeton ranked eighth in the nation in assists per game at 3.00, 14th in points per game at 8.43, and 27th in goals per game at 2.71, among top-30 rankings. Princeton's top-50 individual statistical rankings were all held by Pietra Tordin, with her No. 1-ranked five game-winning goals, second-ranked 1.29 goals per game, third-ranked 3.00 points per game, fourth-ranked 5.00 shots per game, eighth-ranked 21 total points, ninth-ranked nine total goals, and 15th-ranked 2.14 shots on goal per game. Lafayette's top statistical ranking was 36th in save percentage, with 84.6 percent of the Lafayette's opponents' shots on goal being saves. That put Lindsay Dewar, who has played every minute in goal this season for the Leopards, 30th nationally with the .846 save percentage, as well as 36th in shutouts.

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.

Sisters on opposite sides: Princeton sophomore Ally Murphy's sister Ava is a rookie with Lafayette. Ally Murphy has not played yet this season due to injury, but Ava Murphy has played in six games this season, scoring a goal in her collegiate debut against Seton Hall on Aug. 17. It will be the second time in less than two weeks that a Princeton player had a sister on the opposing team, with Tiger senior Morgan Wiese competing against Georgetown rookie sister Maya on Sept. 13. Princeton won that game 3-2, knocking off the then-No. 10 Hoyas.

Series history: Princeton holds a 4-0-1 series lead over Lafayette. The teams met annually from 1996-98 with Princeton winning all three, and the remaining two meetings were in 2011, a 2-2 tie in Princeton, and 2012, a 5-2 Tiger win in Easton.

Against the Patriot League: Princeton has won 11 straight games against Patriot League teams since a 2016 tie against Bucknell, and its unbeaten streak against the Patriot League stands at 26 games, since a 2010 loss to American. In the Sean Driscoll era, Princeton is 15-0-1 against the Patriot League, outscoring opponents 43-9 in those games, which came against Army, Boston University, Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh and Loyola (Md.).

On Lafayette: As with Princeton, Lafayette will step away from league play for Tuesday's game. The Leopards are off to a 2-1 start in the Patriot League, part of their 6-3 record overall and behind only 3-0 Loyola (Md.), which defeated Lafayette 2-1 on Saturday in Maryland. Eight players have scored a goal for Lafayette this season with Sara Oswald's four goals leading the way.

Up next: The Tigers will return to Ivy League play on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Brown, winner of the last three Ivy League titles since Princeton and Penn shared the title in 2018 (no title awarded in 2020). The Bears will aim to close out an unbeaten September, going 3-0-2 in the month so far since their lone loss of the season, 1-0 to Providence on Aug. 31. Brown hasn't allowed a goal since Sept. 6, to Saint Louis and will take a shutout streak of 358:01 into the game.

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