Ivy Opener Set for Friday as Women's Soccer Heads to Penn

Though Princeton will take a seven-game series win streak into Friday's visit to Penn, every one of those games has been close and those previous results won't count for much when the Tigers and Quakers meet to open the Ivy League season in Philadelphia.

at Penn, Friday, 6 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats

On Princeton: The Tigers enter Friday's game at 1-3-3 on the season. Six Tigers have scored a goal with three of those six having scored their first career goal this season, including junior backliner Zoe Markesini (two) and rookies Nina Cantor (one) and Sarah Houston (one). Alexandra Barry, Pia Beaulieu and Ally Murphy have a goal each. Between the posts, junior Cecilia Cerone (0-1-2, .609 sv%, 1.85 GAA) and sophomore Sydney Romano (1-2-1, .769 sv%, 1.41 GAA) have split the time, with Cerone getting most of the time early before splitting halves with Romano each of the last two games after Romano entered late in the first half as an injury replacement at Miami.

On Penn: The Quakers (4-1-2) will enter Friday's match coming off their first loss of the season, 3-1 to Villanova, after a 4-0-2 start in which Penn outscored its opponents 12-4. Nine Quakers have scored goals this season, with Hailey Adamsky, Abbey Cook, Mia Fuss and Lauren Stevens co-leading the team with two goals each. Between the posts, Annabel Austen (2-0-1, 0.00 GAA, 1.000 sv%) played all of the first three games in goal and the first 15 minutes against FDU, and Megan Graves (2-1-1, 1.82 GAA, .741 sv%) has played every minute since.

The series: Princeton leads the all-time series with Penn 24-10-4 and has won seven straight with an unbeaten streak of nine consecutive games. Each of the last 11 games in the series has either been a tie (two) or a one-goal game, with the last game to be decided by more than one goal coming in 2012, a 4-2 Tiger win in Princeton. It's been a lot of binary code in the series since 2015, with every game ending either 1-0, 1-1 or 0-0 except for a 2-1 Princeton win in 2022. In Philadelphia, Princeton has won four straight and is unbeaten in five straight since a 3-2 loss in 2013. Two current Tigers have scored a goal against the Quakers, with Kelsee Wozniak getting one of the two Tiger goals in the team's 2-1 win at home in 2022 and Drew Coomans getting the lone goal at Penn in 2023 in the 50th minute of a 1-0 win. One current Quaker has scored a goal against Princeton, with Anuli Okafor scoring Penn's goal in the 2-1 Tiger win in 2022, and teammate Annabel Austen is the only keeper on either side to play against the other team, getting 10 saves in last year's 1-0 Tiger win in Princeton as the Tigers outshot Penn 21-9 overall and 11-2 on goal. Lily Bryant '25 had the Princeton goal in the 63rd minute.

Outshoot 'em: In 171 games under Sean Driscoll, Princeton has outshot its opponent in overall shots 130 times and has equaled its opponent in total shots three times, getting outshot 38 times, or in just more than once every five games (22.2 percent).

Preseason polls: Princeton was picked first and Penn sixth in the Ivy preseason poll. The Tigers had eight athletic All-Ivy honorees last year but took a huge hit with losses to graduation and the pros. Pietra Tordin, who chose to forgo her senior season to turn pro with the NWSL's Portland Thorns, was the Ivy Offensive Player of the Year in 2024, and Lily Bryant, Heather MacNab and Tyler McCamey all graduated and went on to the pro ranks, with Bryant at FC Porto in Portugal, MacNab with the NWSL's North Carolina Courage, and McCamey with the NWSL's KC Current. On the second team, Ryann Brown is using a graduate season at North Carolina and Kate Toomey graduated, leaving Zoe Markesini and Drew Coomans as the only returning 2024 All-Ivy honorees for the Tigers. Markesini has missed time since leaving the Aug. 31 game against Syracuse due to injury. For the Quakers, Annabel Austen was a first-team All-Ivy League keeper and is back, and second-teamer Maya Leschly graduated.

Tigers in the NWSL: Princeton has six players currently on NWSL rosters. Pietra Tordin, who turned pro following her junior season last school year, has already twice been named the NWSL Rookie of the Month, doing so in June and adding the second in August. Through the weekend, Tordin had played in 19 games for the Portland Thorns and had scored four goals. Tordin had seven starts over those 19 games, including in the Thorns' two most recent games. Tyler Lussi '17 started the North Carolina Courage's last nine games through last weekend, scoring both of her season's goals in that span. Aria Nagai '24 played in five straight games to end August for the Utah Royals and started four of those, and Madison Curry '24 started her 12th straight game and 18th on the season last Sunday for the Seattle Reign against Racing Louisville FC. Heather MacNab '25 made her pro debut for the North Carolina Courage on Sept. 13 against Angel City FC, and Tyler McCamey '25 was signed to the KC Current on Sept. 5.

The staff: Head coach Sean Driscoll is in his 11th year with Princeton and 10th competitive season (team did not compete in 2020), and has the most Ivy League Coach/Coaching Staff of the Year honors since the award began in 2014, with four (2015, 2017, 2018, 2024). He's Princeton's second-winningest coach, with 108 wins, and with his 40 wins at Manhattan (2005-09) added in, he's just two wins from his 150th career victory. He's Princeton's second-winningest coach in program history, with predecessor Julie Shackford having won 203 games from 1995-2014. Associate Head Coach Mike Poller has been with Driscoll for the entire Tiger tenure, and keepers coach Chris Duggan is in his fourth season with the program. Under Driscoll, Princeton has won four Ivy League titles (2015, 2017, 2018, 2024) and has made six NCAA tournaments (2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2023, 2024), making the second round in 2015, 2017, 2021 and 2023 and the quarterfinals in 2017.

Individual notes:

0 • Sydney Romano • So • GK
• Made her career debut in relief at Loyola (Md.) on Aug. 24
• Has played in each of the last three games, in injury relief at Miami (Fla.) on Aug. 31 and splitting halves with Cecilia Cerone against Villanova (Sept. 11) and at Army West Point (Sept. 14)
• Has allowed three goals this season, one at Loyola and two at Army, to hold a 1.41 GAA and a .769 save percentage in 191 minutes

1 • Cecilia Cerone • Jr. • GK
• Following the graduation of Tyler McCamey '25 (now with NWSL's KC Current), has already seen almost twice as much time between the posts (438 min) as she had over her first two seasons (222 min)
• Has played in all seven games this season, going the full 90 in three of the first four while splitting halves with Sydney Romano in three others while leaving the Miami game on Sept. 4 after 33 minutes due to injury
• Holds a 1.85 GAA this season with a .609 save percentage
• Psychology major

2 • Anna Chau • Fr. • M/D
• Has played in all seven games of her rookie season and has made six starts, including in her collegiate debut Aug. 22 against Rutgers
• Averages 67.6 minutes per game this season

4 • Caroline Kane • Sr. • D
• Has played in all seven games this season, tying her second-most games played, along with her sophomore season and behind only the 13 games she played as a rookie in 2022
• A backliner, has one career point, an assist against Bucknell in 2022
• Averages 61.6 minutes per game this season
• Majoring in psychology and interned in the summer of 2025 with Major League Baseball's mental health and safety programs

5 • Drew Coomans • Sr. • F
• Two-time second-team All-Ivy Leaguer (2023, 2024)
• Has started all seven games this season and 12 straight dating back to last season; has played in 60 games and started 43 in her collegiate career
• Has scored all five of her career goals between her sophomore and junior seasons, with three in 2024
• Co-leads the team in total shots this season, with 18
• Averages 83.9 minutes per game this season
• Economics major
• Spent two weeks in summer 2025 training with the NWSL's Portland Thorns

6 • Zoe Markesini • Jr. • D
• Co-captain this season
• Second-team All-Ivy League 2024
• Played in the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Colombia and 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in India for Canada, serving as a team captain with the U-17 team, starting all seven games between the two tournaments, and scoring a goal against France in the 2024 group stage opener as Canada made the round of 16
• Left the Aug. 31 game against Syracuse due to injury and has not played since
• Has played 36 games and started 30 during her collegiate career
• Scored her first two collegiate goals over Princeton's first two games this season, earning Ivy Defensive Player of the Week honors on Aug. 25
• Averages 78.8 minutes per game this season
• Majoring in psychology

7 • Grace Rossner • So. • M/F
• Has appeared in six games over her first two seasons, all as a reserve
• Has played 35 minutes this season, all between the Rutgers (Aug. 22) and Ohio State (Aug. 28) games

8 • Aditi Singh • Jr. • F
• Joined the team this season
• From West Windsor, N.J., just a few miles from campus
• Made her career debut Aug. 28 against Ohio State and played 22 minutes off the bench in her only appearance to date
• Majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering

9 • Rebecca Sherry • Jr. • F
• Made her career debut this season and has played in five games
• Averages 16.6 minutes per game this season
• Student in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

10 • Dylan Jovanovic • So. • F
• Has started all seven games this season, equaling her total of games started from last season as a rookie
• Has scored her first two career points this season, on assists at Miami (Sept. 4) and Army West Point (Sept. 14)
• Is closing in on her total of minutes played from last season, having played 528 this season and 688 last season
• Has taken as many total shots this season (18) as last season (18) and is almost halfway to her number of shots on goal this season (four) from last season (nine)
• 18 total shots this season co-lead the team
• Averages 75.4 minutes per game this season

11 • Maddie Recupero • Fr. • M
• Has played in four games this season, getting her first and so far only start on Aug. 28 against Ohio State
• Averages 39.5 minutes per game this season

13 • Sarah Houston • Fr. • F/M
• Scored her first career goal Sept. 14 at Army West Point
• First career start came in the Army game and has played in five games this season
• Averages 32.6 minutes per game this season, raised by a 66-minute outing at Army that nearly doubled her previous high of 35, set against Villanova three days earlier
• Sister, Erin, is a senior on Auburn's women's soccer team

14 • Nina Cantor • Fr. • F
• Has played in all seven games this season and has started four
• Averages 55.9 minutes per game this season while playing between 41 and 69 minutes in every game
• Had her first career point on Aug. 28 with an assist against Ohio State and first career goal on Sept. 4 at Miami for her three points this season
• Co-leads the team in total shots this season, with 18, and leads the team in shots on goal, with eight

17 • Sophia Kurisu • So. • M
• Has not yet played this season after playing in 12 games last season, all off the bench while taking two shots, one on goal, and averaging 16.6 minutes per game

18 • Brooke Dawahare • So. • M
• Played in all 19 games last season and had 17 starts
• With 1,240 minutes played last season, was the team's returning leader in minutes played from last season, and with Alexandra Barry and Isabella Garces, co-led the returners with four goals scored last season
• Started each of the first three games this season before leaving the Aug. 28 game against Ohio State due to injury and has not played since
• Played 73 minutes in the opener against Rutgers and all 90 against Loyola the next time out before playing 28 minutes in the early exit against OSU

20 • Aubrey Crisostomo • Fr. • F/M
• Has played in five games this season, all off the bench, and averages 27.6 minutes per game
• Had her first career point with an assist against Ohio State on Aug. 28

21 • Julia Johnson • Fr. • D
• Has played in six games this season and has made four starts, including starts in each of the last three games entering the Ivy season
• Averages 63.3 minutes per game this season
• Shares a high school alma mater with head coach Sean Driscoll, Greens Farms Academy in Westport, Conn.
• Has a strong familial connection to Princeton, with both parents, Sydney and Jennifer, both in the Class of 1997, and brother Jalen in the Class of 2026
• Father Sydney was a two-time Ivy League champion hoopster at Princeton (1996, 1997) and was part of the 1996 team that upset UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament before winning Ivy Player of the Year honors in 1997; Sydney returned to coach the team from 2007-11, winning the 2011 Ivy title, and began as head coach of the WNBA's Washington Mystics in 2025

22 • Esmé Rudell • Jr. • M/D
• Is closing in on surpassing her 2024 total of minutes played (364), having played 312 minutes this season; had 433 career minutes entering the season
• Averages 44.6 minutes per game this season
• Majoring in politics
• Father, Kirk, is in the Princeton soccer Class of 1991

23 • Summer Pierson • Sr. • M/D
• Has played in four games this season
• Averages 20.8 minutes per game this season
• Career highs of seven games played, three games started, and 240 minutes played all came last season
• First and so far only career points came on a goal against Drexel on Sept. 12, 2024
• Majoring in art and archaeology

24 • Pia Beaulieu • Sr. • M
• Has played in three games this season and has started one after missing early-season games due to injury
• Played a career-high 544 minutes over a career-high 18 games last season, also setting career highs in goals (two) and assists (three) last season
• Averages 48.7 minutes per game this season
• Student in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

25 • Kelsee Wozniak • Sr. • D
• Has started all seven games this season
• Career-high three goals and three assists came as a rookie in 2022
• Career-high 1,004 minutes played came last season
• Needs two more starts to match her career high of nine, set in 2022 and equaled in 2024
• Averages 82.4 minutes per game this season and has played no fewer than 61, going the full 90 four times
• Politics major

27 • Alexandra Barry • So. • F
• Was the team's leading returning scorer from 2024, totaling 13 points on four goals and five assists
• Played in all 19 games last season and made seven starts
• Scored a goal against Ohio State on Aug. 28 and had an assist Sept. 4 at Miami for her three points so far this season
• Has five starts this season, just two behind her seven starts as a rookie, and is more than halfway to her 2024 minutes total of 680, having played 386
• Has taken 16 total shots this season and seven on goal after 27 total shots last season and 11 on goal
• Averages 55.1 minutes per game this season

28 • Kayla Wong • Jr. • M
• Has started all seven games this season after playing in 18 of 19 and starting 17 last season
• Career-high three goals came last season and career-high five assists, on the way to a career-high nine points, came as a rookie in 2023
• Career-high 28 total shots and 12 shots on goal came last season; has 11 total shots and six shots on goal this season
• Averages 78.9 minutes per game this season
• Economics major

30 • Isabella Garces • Jr. • F
• Made her season debut Sept. 14 at Army West Point after missing early-season games due to injury, playing 34 minutes
• Played in a career-high 15 games last season and started two for her first, and as yet only, two career starts
• Career-high 421 minutes, 23 total shots and seven shots on goal came last season
• Co-led this year's returners with four goals last season
• Student in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

36 • Ally Murphy • Sr. • F
• Co-captain this season
• Has played in all seven games this season and has started four
• Scored on a penalty kick against Villanova on Sept. 11 for her second career goal; first came on Oct. 5, 2024 against Brown
• With 315 minutes played this season, is closing in on her career high of 363 set in 2022
• Averages 45 minutes per game this season
• Student in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

51 • Carson Proctor • Fr. • GK
• Has not yet played

Looking ahead: Princeton will keep the road swing going, heading to Harvard on Sept. 27 before returning home after three games away to face Yale on Oct. 4.

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