No. 13 Princeton Heads to Brown for Another Pivotal Ivy Game Saturday

A 4-2 win over Cornell last Friday at home got the Ivy League season off to a good start for the Princeton women's soccer team, and a one-spot jump in the United Soccer Coaches rankings to No. 13 followed. This weekend, a visit to the three-time defending Ivy League champions at Brown is ahead.

at Brown, Sat., 4 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats

In the rankings: Princeton's ranking in this week's 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 is 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 2.67 goals a game so far this season, and at 24 goals, is just one goal 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 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 3.6 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 1.41 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 Wednesday, Princeton ranked 11th in the nation in assists per game at 2.78, 13th in points per game at 8.11, 23rd in goals per game at 2.67, and 24th in total assists at 25, 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, sixth-ranked 1.00 goals per game, sixth-ranked 2.33 points per game, ninth-ranked 4.44 shots per game, 11th-ranked 21 total points, 12th-ranked nine total goals, and 20th-ranked 2.00 shots on goal per game. Brown's top statistical ranking was 23rd in shutout percentage with 62.5 percent, or five of their eight games, ending in shutouts. The Bears' 8.12 shots on goal per game were 30th in the nation. Brittany Raphino's 72 percent of shots being on goal was seventh in the nation, as was her 2.25 goals on goal per game. Clare Gagne had the nation's ninth-best 0.308 GAA, and Joy Okonye's five assists were 35th in the nation.

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: Brown leads the all-time series with Princeton 22-18-4 and won last year's visit to Roberts Stadium 6-1. The scorers of five of Brown's six goals are back this season in Evelyn Calhoon, Brittany Raphino (two), Kira Maguire and Ava Seelenfreund. Pietra Tordin had the goal for Princeton in the 80th minute after Brown took a 6-0 lead. Clare Gagne played the second half in goal for Brown after Bella Schopp started as the lone current goalkeepers to play in the series. Brown won the 2021 game in Providence 3-1 as Raphino and Seelenfreund each had a goal. Seelenfreund also had the lone goal in the 2019 1-0 Brown win in Providence. Princeton's last win in the series came in 2017, 2-1 in Providence, and the Tigers will try to end Brown's four-game win streak against Princeton.

On Brown: Brown hasn't allowed a goal in 358:01 entering the Princeton game. The Bears received votes in each of the first three United Soccer Coaches polls of the season before falling out of the RV section in the Sept. 5 poll following a 1-0 loss to Providence on Aug. 31. Since that loss, the Bears are 3-0-2, opening the Ivy season last week with a 2-0 win over Harvard on a pair of goals by Sheyenne Allen and a Clare Gagne four-save shutout. Eight Bears have scored goals this season, with three each from Brittany Raphino and Miya Grant-Clavijo leading the way. Gagne has played most of the minutes in goal this season, accruing just an 0.31 GAA. Gagne has played every minute beginning with the Providence game.

Up next: The Tigers will have a midweek Ivy League game at Penn on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Princeton has won the last five against the Quakers and is unbeaten in seven straight since a 2014 loss.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results