Ivy Title, Tourney Hosting at Stake as Women's Soccer Visits Columbia Saturday

Saturday, November 2

New York, N.Y.

2:00 PM

Princeton University

Columbia

The Tigers will aim for an Ivy title celebration on Saturday at Columbia.

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Ivy Title, Tourney Hosting at Stake as Women's Soccer Visits Columbia Saturday

October 27, 2024 | Women's Soccer

An Ivy League title and hosting duties for the Ivy League Tournament will be awarded this weekend at the northern tip of Manhattan when Princeton (11-4, 5-1) heads to Columbia (7-3-4, 5-0-1) for a 2 p.m. kick on Saturday.

at Columbia, Saturday, 2 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats

What's At Stake: Columbia leads the Ivy League with 16 points, one better than Princeton's 15. With Brown third at 11 points. Princeton and Columbia are the only two teams that can win the Ivy title and host the Ivy tournament. There won't be a shared title, as the winner of the Princeton-Columbia game will win the Ivy title and host the tournament, and with Columbia holding the lead coming into the game, a tie would give the Ivy title and hosting duties to the Lions. Princeton is looking for its first Ivy title since 2018 and 11th all-time, while Columbia is looking for its first Ivy title since 2006 and second all-time. A win would also end With the current incarnation of the Ivy tournament debuting just last year, either team would be a first-time host. Princeton hosted the final event of the first incarnation of the Ivy tournament, in 1981.

The Ivy League Tournament: Columbia and Princeton will be the first or second seed in either order, and Brown will be the third seed, standing four points behind Princeton and four ahead of both Harvard and Yale (seven points). Harvard and Yale play on Saturday, so the winner will be the fourth seed. If Harvard and Yale tie, and if Cornell (six points) beats Penn, the Big Red would be the fourth seed. If Harvard and Yale tie and Cornell doesn't win, the fourth seed would be decided by the tiebreaker that compares the Crimson's and Bulldogs' results against each team in the standings, starting at the top. Yale's win over Princeton would put Yale in the tournament, since Harvard lost to both Princeton and Columbia. If the Crimson get in, the teams would be the same as the 2023 event, though with different seedings.

All-Time Series: Princeton leads the all-time series with Columbia 23-9-6, but it's been very even of late. During Sean Driscoll's tenure leading the Tigers, which began in 2015, the series with Columbia is tied 3-3-2. Neither team has scored more than two goals against the other since a 3-1 Princeton win in 2015, and two goals has been the biggest margin of victory in any game of the series since a 4-1 Tiger win in 2011. Columbia has turned in back-to-back shutouts against Princeton since a 1-0 Tiger win in 2021, and no active player has scored a goal against the other team. The only active keeper to play in the series is Princeton's Tyler McCamey, who made five saves in a scoreless draw in 2022 and one save in a 1-0 loss in 2023. Princeton's last win at Columbia was by a 1-0 score in 2018, the Tigers' most recent visit there prior to the 2022 game.

Coach Driscoll: Saturday's game is a matchup of the two coaches with the longest tenures at their current posts, with Sean Driscoll beginning his tenure leading the Princeton program ahead of the 2015 season and Tracey Bartholomew doing so at Columbia ahead of the 2014 season. Driscoll and Bartholomew are two of the three winningest coaches in the Ivy at their current posts, with Driscoll at 104 wins and Bartholomew at 81. Brown's Kia McNeill is at 85 wins. Driscoll has led Princeton to three Ivy League titles (2015, 2017, 2018) while winning Ivy Coach of the Year honors in those seasons. Driscoll is the second-winningest coach in program history, behind only predecessor Julie Shackford, who won 203 games between 1995 and 2014. Princetonians have won six All-American honors during Driscoll's tenure, second-most among Princeton coaches after the program's first coach, Bob Malekoff, whose players won seven All-American honors between 1980 and 1984. Princeton has been to five NCAA tournaments under Driscoll and has advanced to the second round four times including a quarterfinals run in one of those trips, in 2017.

On Offense: Fourteen Tigers have scored a goal this season, with Pietra Tordin's team-best six goals all coming over the past five games, since her return from the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, where she helped Team USA to a third-place finish. At the U-20 WWC, Tordin scored four goals, leading Team USA and becoming the first U.S. player to net a hat trick at the U-20 WWC, which she did against Paraguay in the group-stage final, since 2018, and the team's highest goal scorer at the U-20 WWC since 2012. Tordin was one of two Tigers at the U-20 WWC, with sophomore backliner Zoe Markesini helping Canada to the knockout round. It was Markesini's second age-group WWC with Canada, along with the U-17 event in India in 2022. Rookies Alexandra Barry and Brooke Dawahare and sophomore Isabella Garces have scored four goals apiece and are three of the eight Tigers who have scored their first career goal this season.

Between the Posts: Senior Tyler McCamey has played every minute of the Ivy League portion of the schedule, allowing three goals in those 540 minutes and holding opponents to an 0.50 GAA. On the season overall, McCamey has an 0.62 GAA over 13 games. Sophomore Cecilia Cerone played against Lafayette and UMBC, getting wins in both games and allowing one goal over those two games.

Stat Rankings: Princeton entered the week standing 12th nationally in assists per game, at 2.53, 15th in goals-against average, at 0.60, is 20th in points per game, at 6.93, 24th in save percentage, at .845, 24th in total assists, at 38, 24th in goal differential, at +24 on the season, and 27th in scoring offense, at 2.20 goals per game. Individually, Tyler McCamey is 23rd in save percentage at .852 and 24th in GAA at 0.615. Columbia counts Nata Ramirez eighth nationally in assists per game, at 0.57, and 19th in total assists, with eight.

On Columbia: The Lions are unbeaten in seven straight games (6-0-1) since a Sept. 12 2-1 loss at a Penn State team that defeated Princeton 1-0 a week earlier in Princeton. Nata Ramirez leads 11 Lion goal scorers, with six goals, while Maia Tabion, with four goals, moved into second place on the team after two goals in the team's 3-2 comeback win at Yale last weekend. Lauren Rodriguez has played all but about 100 of the team's 1,260 minutes in goal, including all but 15 minutes of Ivy League play. Rodriguez has a season GAA of 1.24 and 0.86 in Ivy League games. The team has outscored opponents 25-16 on the season. In five home games on the season, Columbia has outscored opponents 13-1, defeating Fordham, Providence, Cornell and Dartmouth after a home-opener tie against FDU. Columbia is unbeaten in six straight at home since a 1-0 loss to Brown on Oct. 14, 2023.

Up Next: Princeton will play in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 8 either at home or at Columbia against one of Brown, Harvard, Yale or Cornell with a start time of 1 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. The final is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10 at the same site as the semifinals.