Seton Hall to Visit Women's Soccer Team Thursday at Roberts

Looking to build on their season-opening win over Miami last weekend, the Princeton women's soccer team will host Seton Hall in a 7 p.m. kick on Thursday on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium.

vs. Seton Hall, Thu., 7 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats | Game Program | Free Admission

For the World: Pietra Tordin, a junior who scored a team-high 12 goals last season, and sophomore backliner Zoe Markesini are away with the U.S. and Canadian U-20 teams at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia. Markesini and Canada will start play on Saturday in Medellín against France in the first of three group-stage games, and Tordin and Team USA will do so on Sunday against Spain in Cali. The earliest the two Tigers could meet is in the first knockout round, with Canada in Group B and the U.S. in Group C. The top two teams from each of the six four-team groups will advance, as will four of the six third-place teams. The final is set for Sept. 22, which would take the absence of the two Tigers through the end of the pre-conference schedule, should either or both teams advance that far.

A New Makeup: There will be lots of opportunity for new contributions for the Tigers as the scorers of nine of the team's 33 non-own goals from 2023 will be available on Saturday. The team lost 13 of those 33 goals to graduation, and with Pietra Tordin away at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, that's another 12 of the 33 goals. Aside from Tordin, the leading returning goal scorers are Heather MacNab, Drew Coomans and Kayla Wong, with two each. Princeton graduated Madison Curry, drafted into the NWSL with Angel City FC, and Morgan Wiese from the back line, as well as Aria Nagai, now at North Carolina, and Marissa Hart from the midfield. From the starting lineup against Texas Tech in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year, five Tigers graduated, with six, including Tordin and Markesini, returning. All of Princeton's goalkeeping minutes are back in senior Tyler McCamey (10-5-4, 1.17 GAA) and sophomore Cecilia Cerone (42 minutes played, 2.12 GAA). Along with Tordin, a first-teamer, Princeton has two returning 2023 All-Ivy honorees in second-team forward Coomans and honorable mention Lily Bryant. Tordin was the 2022 Ivy Rookie of the Year with Bryant earning first-team honors, defender Ryann Brown as a second-teamer, and forward Heather MacNab as an honorable mention.

Already a First: As the Tigers look for those new contributors, sophomore Isabella Garces became the first Tiger of 2024 to score her first career goal, providing the only one of the night in the 1-0 win over Miami last Saturday.

The Newcomers: Princeton has a six-member freshman class, with forward Alexandra Barry and midfielder/forward Dylan Jovanovic as four-star recruits by Top Drawer Soccer and midfielder Brooke Dawahare, midfielder Sophia Kurisu, keeper Sydney Romano and midfielder/forward Grace Rossner all as three-star recruits by the website.

Headed for a Milestone: Sean Driscoll has 94 wins at Princeton and is aiming to become just the second coach in program history with 100 wins. Predecessor Julie Shackford had 203 wins over 20 seasons. Only two Princeton men's coaches have reached 100 wins, in Jimmy Reed (136, 1938-66) and current counterpart Jim Barlow (210 wins). Driscoll and Shackford will go head-to-head soon, with Princeton going to William & Mary, where Shackford is the head coach, on Sept. 8. Three seasons after leaving Princeton, Shackford took over at her alma mater ahead of the 2018 season, succeeding John Daly, who was her coach in her final season at William & Mary in 1987.

The 2023 season: Princeton went 10-5-4 in 2023, finishing third in the Ivy at 4-2-1 as the league sent four teams to the NCAA tournament, all of which won their first-round games. Princeton defeated Michigan 1-0 on an 80th-minute goal from now-graduated Lexi Hiltunen '24 in the first round before battling Texas Tech to a 0-0 tie on the road with the Red Raiders advancing on PKs, 4-3. Miami went 3-10-4 in 2023, finishing 12th among the 14 women's soccer-playing schools in the then-15 team ACC (Georgia Tech).

Preseason polls: Princeton was picked third in the media/athletic communications preseason poll, receiving two of the 16 first-place votes. Harvard was picked first with 120 poll points and 10 first-place votes with Brown second at 108 points and four first-place votes. Princeton had 103 poll points with Columbia fourth at 77, 20 more than fifth-place Dartmouth. The top four teams will make the Ivy League Tournament, set to be played at the top seed.

The Series with Seton Hall: Princeton leads the all-time series against Seton Hall 8-2-2, though Thursday's meeting will be the teams' first since Sept. 8, 2014, at the previous Roberts Stadium. All 12 games came during the 20-season tenure of former coach Julie Shackford, with the last occurring in her final season. Both the 2013 and 2014 games were played to 0-0 draws, and with the 2011 game ending on a golden goal, it's been 220 game minutes heading into Thursday since either Princeton or Seton Hall have scored on the other. Seton Hall will bring a shutout streak of 248:39 into Thursday's game since the last Tiger goal scored in the series, by Caitlin Blosser '13, in the 80th minute of a 109-minute game in 2011. With Seton Hall going 1-0-2 in the last three against Princeton, the Tigers' last win in the series came in 2010, capping an 8-1 Princeton start to the series.

Against the Big East: During the Sean Driscoll era, since 2015, the only Big East teams Princeton has faced have been Georgetown, against which Princeton has gone 1-2-1 (2018 loss, 2019 loss, 2021 tie, 2023 win) and Villanova, against which Princeton has gone 3-0-1 (wins in 2015, 2016 and 2017, tie in 2019).

On Seton Hall: Pirates coach Josh Osit is in his third season leading Seton Hall after eight in the Ivy League as an assistant coach at Columbia. From 2014-21, Princeton and Columbia were an even 3-3-1 head to head. At 2-1-1 on the season, the Pirates will be playing their second consecutive game in Mercer County, defeating Rider 1-0 on Sunday in Lawrenceville. Natalie Tavana, the Big East's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, has two of the Pirates' four goals on the season. Seton Hall has gone with the same plan between the posts in all four games so far, with Anna Prawer playing all four first halves and Avery Strohecker playing all four second halves. Prawer has faced two shots over the four halves, saving both, while Strohecker has faced eight shots, allowing three goals. The Pirates were picked eighth in the 11-team Big East preseason poll. Princeton will host the No. 1 team in that poll, Georgetown, on Sept. 15. While the Pirates will see lots of Tigers pursuing a Princeton degree on Thursday, they'll see someone on the field on Sunday who already has one, with Aria Nagai '24 using her final year of eligibility at North Carolina.

Up Next: Princeton will be away from competition before hosting Penn State, No. 12 in the Aug. 27 United Soccer Coaches rankings, in the Nittany Lions' first-ever trip to Princeton.

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