Women’s soccer remained undefeated in conference play after beating Princeton 2-0 Saturday afternoon at Stevenson Field.
The team (7-2-1, 2-0-1 Ivy) earned its sixth straight shutout in its victory over the Tigers. Princeton (4-4-3, 0-3-0) won the Ivy League last year but has failed to win a conference game so far this season.
Captain Mika Siegelman ’14 scored Bruno’s first goal — a penalty kick conversion — in the 65th minute, after she was tripped up in the goal box.
“I chased after a cross that was overhit,” Siegelman said. “(Princeton’s) center back was on me, but there wasn’t a lot of space — so I nutmegged the first defender and then the second one just came sliding into my legs.”
Chloe Cross ’15 tacked onto the lead 13 minutes later when the forward took a pass from Annie Gillen ’14 and outran the defender before knocking the ball past Princeton goalie Cecilia Di Caprio.
Defensively, the Bears were aided by the combined shutout of goalies Amber Bledsoe ’14 and Mary Catherine Barrett ’14. Bledsoe made three saves in the first half, and Barrett stopped four in the second.
“With (Bledsoe) and (Barrett), you have two really strong goalies and don’t miss a beat with either of them,” Siegelman said. “When one comes in, it’s sort of like the start of a fresh half, and you just get even more psyched to play with them.”
Cross credited the team’s offensive breakthroughs to its new offensive formations that include three forwards, rather than two.
“Having more people in the final third really helps get numbers forward,” Cross said.
With their second conference win, the Bears have doubled their number of Ivy victories from last year, when they finished second-to-last in the league. Head Coach Phil Pincince said the team’s biggest improvement from last year has been one in “maturity.”
“We’ve had composure from game to game — dealing with all the momentum swings and adversities far better than last season,” he said.
Bruno remains in second place with its win, with only Harvard — the team’s next opponent — ahead in the standings. The Bears will face the Crimson Saturday in Cambridge.
Pincince said the key to defeating Harvard will be shutting down its offense, which has been “excellent” this year. The Crimson recently scored seven goals against Cornell.
Siegelman said winning will depend on the Bears “playing their own game.”
“This year, we’re not as concerned with what Harvard’s going to come out doing,” Siegelman said. “We’re just going to play our game, which we know we can play and take it to them.”
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