Sunday Trip to Yale Next for Women's Soccer Team

Sunday, October 13

New Haven, Conn.

1:00 PM

Princeton University

Yale

Kiley Hamou and the Tigers will head to Yale this weekend.

Photo by: Sideline Photos, LLC

October 10, 2024 | Women's Soccer

Looking for a 4-0 start in the Ivy League, Princeton will make the trip to Yale for a Sunday 1 p.m. kick.

at Yale, Sunday, 1 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats

Back in CT: Princeton coach Sean Driscoll is a Trumbull, Connecticut native, having graduated from Greens Farms Academy in Westport, southwest of New Haven, before returning to the state after college to coach at New Canaan and Brookfield High Schools, both in the western part of the state, as well as his alma mater at Greens Farms. His first collegiate coaching job was at Western Connecticut State in 2004 as an assistant coach before crossing the state line to New York and taking over at Manhattan College. Since taking over at Princeton, Driscoll's Tigers are 2-1-1 in Connecticut, with a win at Quinnipiac last year and a 1-1-1 record in New Haven at Yale. Driscoll, a three-time Ivy League Coach of the Year, is the Ivy League's winningest active coach at their current post, standing at 101 wins with Brown's Kia McNeill (84), Columbia's Tracey Bartholomew (79) and Harvard's Chris Hamblin (78) next. Driscoll has led the Tigers to five NCAA tournaments, including four second-round trips and a run to the 2017 NCAA quarterfinals.

The Series with Yale: All-time, Princeton is 28-14-3 against the Bulldogs, including a 5-2-1 record since Sean Driscoll took over in 2015. The two Yale wins in that span came in 2019 and 2022, and a win this time would make it Princeton's first back-to-back wins in the series since 2017 and 2018. Drew Coomans and Pietra Tordin are the returning goal scorers from last year's 3-1 win over Yale at Roberts, with Princeton keeper Tyler McCamey making seven saves and Yale's Kyla Holmes making eight. Yale's Ellie Rappole had the lone goal in the 2022 game in New Haven, with McCamey making one save as Yale won despite being outshot 19-9 overall and 6-2 on goal. Ella Midura had a goal in Princeton's 4-0 win at Roberts in 2021 as the only other active player to score in the series.

The Ivy Race: Princeton and Columbia, who will meet on the final day of the regular season on Nov. 2 in Manhattan, are tied atop the league at 3-0, three points ahead of 2-1 Brown, five points ahead of fourth-place Yale (1-1-1), and six points ahead of 1-2 Cornell, which is presently in fifth, one spot out of the Ivy tournament. Harvard, Dartmouth and Penn are eight points back, each at 0-2-1. Princeton last won the Ivy League title in 2018, with Brown taking each of the four awarded since. Speaking to the strength of the league, and despite Princeton earning two NCAA at-large bids in the four competitive seasons since 2018, heading into this one, four seasons is Princeton's longest span without an Ivy title since 1983 through 1999. From 2000-18, Princeton won nine Ivy titles.

The 3-0 Start: Princeton is 3-0 in the Ivy for the first time since 2017 and for the third time in nine competitive seasons under Sean Driscoll. In 2017, Princeton started 3-0 before a home loss to Columbia on the way to a 6-1 Ivy record, the Ivy title and an NCAA quarterfinal run. In 2015, Princeton started 6-0 before a tie at Penn, the Ivy title and an NCAA second-round appearance. Princeton's last perfect run through the Ivy came in 2012 under previous head coach Julie Shackford. That team also made the second round of the NCAA tournament, winning at West Virginia in what was the team's first NCAA win away from Princeton's campus.

Zeroes: Princeton has shut out its first three Ivy opponents. The last time that happened for the Tigers was 2008, when the Ivy shutout streak lasted until the team's fourth game, a 2-1 overtime win over Columbia. The last time Princeton started the Ivy season with four shutouts was 2000, when Princeton allowed just two goals in all of Ivy League play, a low for the team since the seven-game Ivy schedule began in 1991. Princeton didn't concede a goal in Ivy play until the fifth Ivy game, a 2-0 loss to Harvard, before shutting out Cornell and Penn to finish 6-1 and win the Ivy title before a double-OT NCAA first-round loss at Wisconsin.

More Zeroes: Princeton has six shutouts in all this season, with at least five games to go. The program record for shutouts in a season is 13, set in 2000, with 12 as the most under Sean Driscoll, in 2017 and again in 2018. Princeton has posted 74 shutouts in eight-plus competitive seasons under Driscoll, a span of 145 games. Having turned in four consecutive shutouts entering the Yale game, Princeton is on a shutout streak of 370:54 and is on its longest shutout streak since shutting out six consecutive opponents late in the 2021 season.

Stingy Tigers: Princeton has allowed five goals so far this season. The program record for fewest goals allowed in a season is seven, in 1985. Since 2000, the fewest goals allowed in a season were eight, in 2000, and nine, in 2008. Under Sean Driscoll, the fewest allowed in a season was 11, in 2017.

More Stingy: Princeton has allowed no more than one goal in a game in any of its first 11 contests. It's the longest Princeton run to start a season without giving up a multi-goal game since 2017, when Princeton went 12 games before Columbia scored twice in game 13.

Stat Rankings: As a team, Princeton entered Thursday sixth in the nation in save percentage (.894) and 10^th in goals-against average (0.455), plus 23^rd in assists per game (2.36). Individually, Tyler McCamey was seventh in save percentage (.889) and 23^rd in GAA (0.50).

On Offense: Princeton has had 12 goal scorers this season with Isabella Garces (four) and Alexandra Barry, Brooke Dawahare and Pietra Tordin (three each) leading the way. Of the 12 goal scorers, seven scored her first career goal this season.

Tordin Climbs the Chart: Junior Pietra Tordin, who made her season debut on Oct. 1 after helping Team USA to third place at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia, stands 12^th in program history with 23 career goals. Just two more goals will tie her for 10^th in program history, and with six more, she'd be alone in seventh place. Tyler Lussi '17 holds the program record with 53 goals, and two of the top three in program history played for Sean Driscoll, with Mimi Asom '19 third at 43. Tordin was one of two Tigers at the U-20 WWC, with sophomore backliner Zoe Markesini helping Canada to the knockout round.

On Yale: The Bulldogs are 7-4-1 after taking a 2-0 loss at Brown on Wednesday, now standing 1-1-1 in the Ivy League. Yale will look to snap a two-game winless run since a 3-0 win over Boston University on Oct. 1. Ellie Rappole, who scored against Princeton in 2022, leads the team with four goals as one of 12 goal scorers with Tanner Cahalan, Marz Akins and Tina Teik scoring two each. Keeper Kyla Holmes has played most of the minutes in goal, holding an 0.88 GAA while stopping 80.5 percent of shots on goal.

Up Next: Princeton will return home to host Harvard on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.