Women's Soccer: Hoy, Blosser lead Princeton’s attack

Last year’s season ended in disappointment for the women’s soccer team, when a scoreless tie with Penn allowed the Quakers to foil Princeton’s late bid for the Ivy League title and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. This season, the Tigers (1-3) will be without four graduated seniors, instead featuring eight new freshmen on the roster as they make another attempt at the conference crown.

“We weren’t satisfied with last season, and we’re using that experience to fuel us for this season,” junior forward Jen Hoy said. “We have a lot of talented freshmen this year plus strong leadership from our upperclassmen.”

After a rocky 0-3 start to 2011, the women’s soccer team is finally starting to gain ground. Princeton has struggled to find its rhythm early in the season in part because its opponents began match play weeks before the Tigers, who are limited by Ivy League regulations like most fall sports teams.

The Tigers started their season with a weekend trip to California to face California State University, Long Beach (4-2-1) and California State University, Northridge (1-5-1), losing by identical 3-1 scores. Hoy helped Princeton take an early lead at Long Beach, but a quick response and two additional goals for the hosts in the second half put the game out of reach. In Los Angeles, the Tigers surrendered two goals to Cal State Northridge in the first 21 minutes and another early score in the second half. Junior midfielder Caitlin Blosser’s goal in the 85th minute came too late to spark a rally for the Tigers.

Princeton suffered its third loss at the hands of Seton Hall. Blosser scored the Tigers’ lone goal in the matchup, helping send the game to overtime, but the Pirates won the game 2-1 in the second extra period.

The team finally shook its early losing streak on Sunday, upsetting Villanova (4-2-2) by a 2-1 score. Princeton struck first with a goal from Hoy in the eighth minute, and after the hosts equalized, freshman forward Lauren Lazo scored what eventually proved to be the game-winning goal at the end of the first half.

“Villanova was a crucial win for us, and it was what we needed to turn our season around,” Hoy said. “There will be a lot of strong competition this season both within the Ivy League and in our interleague games, but if we perform, we will win.”

Perennial rival Penn (4-0) will be a definite contender for the Ivy League title once again this season, as will Brown (4-0-1) and Harvard (3-2). Princeton suffered a 4-0 loss to the Crimson last year at a critical point in its season.

“I think Harvard is going to be our biggest game,” senior defender Kim Menafra said. “We definitely were not happy with how the Harvard game went last year, and that game may be our toughest mental challenge this season.”

The team’s incoming freshmen have already been entrusted with a great deal of responsibility early in the season. A majority of the rookies have already recorded playing time, and Lazo has started all four games this season.

“More than any of my other years here, this year the freshman class has fit in right away,” Menafra said. “We’ve been here for a month, and we are already like a family on and off the field.”

Veteran seniors Kalie Bartholomew and Menafra in the backfield should provide a strong anchor for Princeton’s defense, while juniors Blosser and Hoy should prove once again to be the team’s leading goal-scorers this season.

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“The upperclassmen have really started taking on a lot of responsibility and shaping this team into what we want it to be,” Menafra said.

Junior Claire Pinciaro recorded her first start at the end of last season and has started each of the four games in the net this year. Princeton has been outshot 49-40 by its opponents to date, but Pinciaro has already recorded 13 saves this season.

The Tigers will face William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., on Saturday. Princeton will return home for two more non-conference tune-ups, its first games at Roberts Stadium, before opening Ivy League play against Yale on Sept. 24.