Women's Soccer: Slim title hopes put on the line in Mass.

The team has sparked into form in recent games, hitting the back of the net on 16 occasions in its last four matches, while also ruthlessly dispatching Columbia 4-1 for its first Ivy League win this fall. In those four games, the Tigers (5-8-1 overall, 1-3-0 Ivy League) tripled their season tally of eight goals in their first 10 matches and saw their overall record recover from the depths it reached after a loss to Brown.

After having soldiered through half a season while besieged by an inability to convert their chances, the Tigers will attempt to capitalize on and extend the momentum created over the last two weeks. Each member of the three-pronged attack — consisting of sophomore midfielder Gabriella Guzman, junior forward Jen Hoy and freshman forward Lauren Lazo — has scored during the run, which will certainly give the Tigers a confidence boost heading into the final stages of the season. In fact, all three scored in their last game, a 5-1 hammering of Utah Valley at Roberts Stadium.

The morale generated from these victories should hold the Tigers in good stead as they take on the league leaders tomorrow. “Once we started scoring the first time, it has just escalated since then,” Lazo said. “We’ve had the confidence, and we’re working together better as a team now.”

However, Harvard poses arguably the greatest challenge to Princeton this fall. The free-scoring Crimson (9-4-1, 3-0-1) has notched 22 goals in its nine home games this season and will certainly threaten the visitors’ goal. Harvard has stormed to the top of the Ivy League, winning three out of four games and tying once at Cornell. Two of its victories came against Yale and Penn, both tied for second place in the conference.

Moreover, the Crimson has historically had the better of this fixture, winning 21 games out of 31. Last year, the Harvard players romped to a 4-0 victory on Princeton soil, with three goals in the span of six second-half minutes. Striker Melanie Baskind scored two and assisted in the other two goals. Baskind will await Princeton’s arrival as this year’s top-scorer for the leading Ivy League team.

Senior midfielder Sara Chehrehsa admits the Crimson will be a tough opponent to defeat. “It’s always a battle when we play Harvard,” she said. However, Chehrehsa was adamantly confident that, come Saturday, Princeton can beat the home team.

Princeton’s rejuvenated attack will come up against Harvard’s freshman goalkeeper Bethany Kanten, who is already beginning to establish herself as a regular in the starting 11. Kanten earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for the second time on Monday after recording nine saves in Harvard’s last Ivy League encounter against Brown to preserve the team’s one-goal lead until the final whistle. Thus, the Tigers will have to play to their full potential on both ends of the field to give themselves a decent chance of overcoming the Crimson.

Princeton’s Ivy League hopes hinge on the encounter, and due to a poor start, the Tigers’ fate ultimately lies on results out of their control even if they secure victory in their remaining matches. Nevertheless, the Tigers understand the importance of focusing on their matches and then seeing how the teams stack up.

“The league’s always a toss-up,” Chehrehsa said. “It just all depends how the other teams do right now, and if we go out and win our next three Ivy League games, you never know what could happen.”