Women's Soccer to Host Villanova, Visit Army in Final Pre-Ivy Games

In the team's final games before the Ivy League schedule begins on Sept. 19 at Penn, the Princeton women's soccer team will host Villanova on Thursday and visit Army West Point on Sunday.

vs. Villanova, Thursday, 7 p.m. | ESPN+ | Int'l Video | Live Stats | Team Yearbook | Free Admission | First Reponders Night
at Army West Point, Sunday, 1 p.m. | ESPN+ | Live Stats

On the Tigers: Princeton stands 0-2-3 heading into the week and is coming off a two-goal second-half rally to force a draw at Miami last Thursday. In that game, Nina Cantor and Pia Beaulieu became the third and fourth Tigers to score a goal this season, with Cantor's goal as the first of the rookie's career. Sophomore keeper Sydney Romano entered in injury relief of Cecilia Cerone and was unscored upon in 56 minutes of play, making four saves. The outing was Romano's second of her career, and it moved her season GAA and save percentage to 0.89 and .833, respectively. The top five minute-loggers from last season graduated, as Princeton returns just 50.8 percent of its minutes from last season. Even so, the Tigers were the No. 1 pick in the Ivy League's preseason poll, getting nine of the 16 first-place votes and 118 poll points with runner-up Brown getting six first-place votes and 105 poll points.

Outshoot 'em: In 169 games under Sean Driscoll, Princeton has outshot its opponent in overall shots 129 times and has equaled its opponent in total shots three times, getting outshot 37 times, or in just more than once every five games (21.9 percent).

On Villanova: The Wildcats (4-2) enter Thursday's game on a four-game win streak after opening with losses to Michigan, 2-1, and then-No. 10 Wake Forest, 2-0, with all four wins coming by shutout against Columbia, George Mason, Bucknell and Lehigh, and will carry a shutout streak of 403:26 into the Princeton game. Against Lehigh on Sunday, Villanova nearly equaled its season scoring total to that point, putting in four goals after scoring five over its first five games. Four players have combined to score all nine of the team's goals so far, with Hannah Curtin scoring three, and Amalia Cardo, Morgan Kotch, and Avrie Nelson scoring two each. Hannah Dickinson has played all but 11 of the team's 540 minutes in goal, holding an 0.68 GAA and an .800 save percentage. Kotch, along with rookie Kayla Raghunandanan, prepped just down the road from Princeton at The Pennington School in Pennington, N.J. Villanova grad student Bella Panaccione and Princeton senior Caroline Kane share an alma mater and a hometown, coming east from Los Altos, Calif., and as alums of Saint Francis High School. Wildcat sophomore Isabelle Chukwu shares an alma mater with Princeton junior Zoe Markesini, as both attended Crothers Secondary School in Markham, Ont.

On Army West Point: The Black Knights (4-2-1) saw a five-game unbeaten streak come to an end last Saturday against West Virginia, 3-0, in Morgantown, and will look to bounce back on Thursday when they host North Texas before Princeton comes in on Sunday. Entering the North Texas game, six players had split the team's 13 goals, with Sophia Henry scoring four and Sabrina Rogers and Brigid Duffy scoring three apiece. In goal, Karalyn Dail has played all 630 minutes and holds a GAA of 1.57 with a .738 save percentage.

Series histories: Princeton is 18-7-2 all-time against Villanova with Princeton unbeaten streaks bookending the series. The Tigers won the first six games, from 1980-85, and are 7-0-2 in the last nine games, since 2004. The active streak is one tie, played in 2019 at the previous Roberts Stadium, after five straight Princeton wins, and Villanova's last win came in 2003 in an NCAA first-round game played at Virginia. Princeton is 9-3-2 all-time at home against the Wildcats, including 5-0-2 since Villanova's last win in Princeton, which came in 1993.

Against Army West Point, Princeton holds a 6-4 all-time series lead, having won the last four after going 2-4 over the series' first six games, all held in the 1980s and '90s. Princeton won annually from 2013-15, and again when the series resumed in 2023 at Roberts, the only game in the series involving current players. It was a historic game for Princeton, with Pietra Tordin, now with the NWSL's Portland Thorns, scoring all four Princeton goals to become the sixth Tiger all-time and first since Tyler Lussi '17, in 2014, to score four goals in a game. The first Tiger to do it, Linda DeBoer '86, also did it against Army, the only opponent to appear twice on the list of Tiger four-goal games. For Army, goal scorers Cami Silvestro and Maddi Woodward are back, but the other goal scorer, Jasmine Talley, who pulled Army within 4-3 in the final minute, graduated, as did both keepers from that game, Tyler McCamey for Princeton and Sage Strohman for Army. This will be Princeton's first visit to West Point since 2014, and the Tigers are 1-2 all-time at Army, having won in 2014 after losses in 1994 and 1996.

Preseason polls: Villanova was picked eighth in the 11-team Big East preseason poll and Army West Point was picked second in the 10-team Patriot League preseason poll. Army received two of the 10 first-place votes and 70 poll points to Boston University's eight first-place votes and 80 poll points. Senior midfielder Brigid Duffy and senior defender Jordan Follenweider are first-team preseason All-Patriot League honorees.

Tigers in the NWSL: Princeton has four 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 18 games for the Portland Thorns and had scored four goals. Tordin had five starts over those 18 games, including in the Thorns' most recent game on Sept. 2 against Louisville. Tyler Lussi '17 started the North Carolina Courage's last eight games through last weekend, scoring both of her season's goals in that span. Aria Nagai '24 had played in five straight games to end August for the Utah Royals and started four of those, and Madison Curry '24 started her 11th straight game and 17th on the season last Sunday for the Seattle Reign against the Washington Spirit.

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 107 wins, and with his 40 wins at Manhattan (2005-09) added in, he's just three 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.

Looking ahead: Princeton will begin Ivy League play on Sept. 19 at Penn.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results