On a sunny Saturday at Roberts Stadium, Princeton women’s soccer (11–4–0 overall, 5–1–0 Ivy League) defeated Dartmouth (6–6–3, 0–4–2) 4–0. This game marked an important win, granting the Tigers control over their destiny in Ivy League play, but also celebrating the Class of 2025 on Senior Day. With a four goal second half and a 4–0 shutout against Dartmouth, women’s soccer has the chance to clinch the first seed and hosting duties for the postseason Ivy League Tournament.
To add on, senior day made the win that much more sweet. The seven seniors on the team were honored by a pre-game ceremony, where the players walked with their families as a video played showing highlights of their career as Princeton Tigers. The seniors being honored were midfielders Kate Toomey and Lily Bryant, forwards Heather MacNab and Ella Midura, defenders Kiley Hamou and Ryann Brown, and goalkeeper Tyler McCamey. Big head cutouts filled the stadium and families and friends lined the stands in support of all the seniors.
“This year [senior day] felt extra emotional,” MacNab reflected to The Daily Princetonian, “I think our team is as close as it has been in my four years here.”
The game itself was truly a tale of two halves. Despite being seventh in the Ivy League, Dartmouth put up a fight. The first half was defined by choppy play and closely missed opportunities. Many fouls and set pieces led to numerous changes in momentum. Princeton dominated the first 15 minutes, with early opportunities like a breakaway from junior striker Pietra Tordin in the first five minutes. The Dartmouth back line maintained strength though, staunchly diminishing all hope of the Tigers’ numerous chances.
“Dartmouth played really well and they were very physical with us,” Head Coach Sean Driscoll told the ‘Prince.’ “I think they caught us a little bit off guard.”
Throughout the half, Tordin was visibly frustrated, as every one of her touches on the ball was immediately swarmed by, at times, a three-to-one attack of the Dartmouth backline.
In the second part of the half, Dartmouth began taking advantage of transitions and was able to slow the game down, something Princeton’s playing style is not used to. In the twentieth minute, Dartmouth forward Hannah Curtin hit a sharp cross into midfielder Aleena Seals, whose attempt was just beyond the goal. This followed a series of three set pieces that Princeton narrowly got away with as McCamey maintained her clean sheet.
“The first half, we really didn’t play with the chip on our shoulder like we usually do,” MacNab said. “We are usually a very high pressing, aggressive team, and we were kind of on our heels. We also had the wind against us in the first half.”
After a frustrating first half, Princeton returned to the field reinvigorated and with a stronger sense of identity. They pressed hard from the get go, driving down the field and possessing well in the final third — a shift from the lack of attack in the first half.
On the second half press, MacNab explained, “We knew we had tired Dartmouth out a little bit, and we knew that as long as we had a really good ten minutes where we kept the ball and kept it in their half of the field, then we were going to be successful.”
Their forward press quickly paid off in the 47th minute, when a foul on Princeton earned a free kick from the middle top of the box. Recent U.S. U-20 bronze medalist Pietra Tordin stepped up to the ball.
“Honestly, that’s one of my favorite spots to hit a free kick from,” Tordin said. “Right before I kicked it, I was like, there’s a pretty good chance it’s gonna go in.”
Tordin calmly approached the ball, taking three darting steps forward before blasting the ball with precise power into the net. This goal was one for the record books, as Tordin’s two goal game moved her from a tie for eleventh to tenth in program history for career goals, now standing with 26 career goals.
Not even a minute and a half later, the Tigers added another mark to the scoresheet. Junior forward Drew Cumens received the ball in transition at the half and drove up the field. She took the ball up inside the right side of the box, touched around her defender, and then clinically slotted the ball past the diving arms of Dartmouth goalkeeper Emily Hardy and into the far-left-side netting.
Princeton kept up the attack throughout the second half, generating lots of near chances. First-year forward Alexandra Barry, whose halftime substitution into the game helped to spark the team as she delivered two assists, had a specific mindset on Saturday.
“Today is just a super special day,” Barry told the ‘Prince.’ “Our seniors on this team are just so special, and we all love them so much, so I just did everything I could in my power to get the win for my team.”
Their hard work paid off in the 62nd minute. Lily Bryant lofted the ball to a running Tordin on the left side of the field. Tordin was flanked by two Dartmouth defenders — but that didn’t stop her. Tordin flicked the ball to the blind side of her defenders, taking the ball off the half volley over the head of Hardy and into the top of the net. This marked Tordin’s sixth goal in six games.
Despite being up 3–0, Princeton did not let up focus, determined to net their strongest performance for the senior celebration game. In the 65th minute, MacNab sent a curling cross to the back post, perfectly placed to the head of a wide-open first-year midfielder Brooks Dawahare for Dawahare’s fourth goal of the season and Princeton’s fourth goal of the game.
The Tigers finished out the game strong, clinching the 4–0 win over Dartmouth and a victory for the Tigers’ senior night.
Princeton looks to build on this momentum next Saturday on the road at Columbia (7–3–4, 5–0–1) for the regular season finale, a game that determines home field advantage in the postseason Ivy Tournament. It’s simple: A win next week at Columbia would seal the number one seed in Ivy play for the Tigers.
“We just have to be us next week,” Driscoll said. “We just want to be ourselves and play the way we’re capable of playing in terms of being on the front foot and being aggressive. When we do that, we’re really good.”
“Columbia is a great team, but I think when we come together as a team and we play our game, we’re honestly unstoppable,” Barry concluded.
Leila Eshaghpour-Silberman is a Sports contributor and contributing Features writer for the ‘Prince.’
Naomi Segel is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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