Sixteen years ago, Harvard women's soccer coach Tim Wheaton had just completed a great soccer career at Drew University and was looking for a coaching position.
When he was offered a job as an assistant for Princeton's women's team, Wheaton jumped at the chance.
"My wife and my father both went to Princeton, and I have the greatest respect for the place," Wheaton said.
The young coach took up residence in an apartment in the Dillon Gym tower and spent a year learning the ropes of coaching.
After one year with the Tigers, Wheaton moved up to Massachusetts and became an assistant with the Crimson.
Two years later he became head coach and in his 14 years at the helm, Wheaton has led Harvard to a 122-61-19 record and four of the last five Ivy League Championships.
Tonight, Wheaton returns to the field on which his career started to take on the Tigers in a contest between the two top teams in the Ivy League.
"We're just approaching this as another game," Princeton head coach Julie Shackford said. "The hype will come naturally."
Same difference
It has been a very similar year for the Tigers and the Crimson: Both have suffered two losses, both have dominated the competition for most of the season and both have veteran teams that have been through the rigors of an Ivy season before.
The one big difference so far between the two teams is that the Crimson has lost within the league and the Tigers have not.
On Sept. 23, Harvard (9-2 overall, 3-1 Ivy League) fell to Brown, 2-0, losing control of its own destiny in the chase for the league title. Last Friday, the Tigers beat the Bears (1-0) to remain the only team with a perfect Ivy record.
"We stumbled early against Brown, which took some control away from us," Wheaton said. "Now we can at least earn a tie for the title if we win the rest of our games."
The Tigers (10-2, 4-0) have history to overcome tonight as Harvard has won the last seven contests — a streak that goes back to 1992.
"We've gotten closer and closer each year I've been here," senior defender Jenny Lankford said. "When you haven't beat a team, it becomes a matter of pride."
The Tigers have gotten closer in each of Lankford's three contests. As a freshman, Lankford traveled to Ohiri Field in Cambridge, Mass., and saw the Tigers get trounced, 6-1.
The last two seasons have been much closer as Harvard held off a late offensive charge two years ago to win 1-0 and took last year's battle 1-0 in overtime when Harvard midfielder Meredith Stewart knocked a shot past then-Tiger sophomore goalie Catherine Glenn.
"I've never been 4-0 in the Ivies," Lankford said. "We've been playing so well right now, we just want to play our game against Harvard."
Sharing the wealth
The Crimson have depended on a balanced, potent attack this season that is scoring close to three goals a game. Harvard has five players with more than 10 points on the season, led by forwards Beth Totman and Joey Yenne.
Yenne shared the Ivy League Player of the Week honor last week with Tiger midfielder Julie Shaner after Yenne tallied a hat trick in the Crimson's 3-1 win over Yale.
"We've had a number of different players step up and give us goals this season," Wheaton said. "It's nice to get production from the whole lineup."
The Tiger defense, however, has still only given up four goals through the first 12 games of the season and has yet to give up a goal in league play as senior goalie Jordan Rettig is putting together a spectacular season.
"They can score goals, but we have a tendency not to give them up," Lankford said.
After so many years of success at the head of Harvard's program, Wheaton still holds a place in his heart for Old Nassau.
"It was a great place and my first job," Wheaton said.
The Tigers just can't expect Harvard's players to show the same fondness for Princeton's program that their coach does if they expect to stay at the top of the standings.
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