No. 8 Syracuse (15-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast) begins NCAA Tournament play against No. 7 Princeton (13-4, 7-0 Ivy League) on Friday at Maryland, where the Terrapins are hosting the first and second regional rounds on Nov. 11 and 13.

In the ACC Tournament, Syracuse dominated in a 6-2 win over Boston College in the first round, and came up just short to No. 1 North Carolina 2-1 in the semifinals. This is Syracuse’s 13th tournament appearance in 16 seasons under head coach Ange Bradley. Last year, the Orange fell to Maryland 2-1 in the quarterfinals after beating Penn State 4-1 in the first round.

Bradley is 16-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 2-2 against Princeton. The Orange defeated the Tigers in the 2008 and 2015 quarterfinal rounds and lost in the 2009 second and 2019 first rounds.

Princeton finished its regular season undefeated in conference play for the 20th time in program history. The Tigers clinched the outright Ivy League title with a 3-1 win over Columbia last Saturday and enter postseason play on an eight-game winning streak.

Here’s what to expect from Princeton going into Friday’s match.

All-time series

Princeton leads 13-10.

Last time they played

Princeton defeated Syracuse 5-1 on Sept. 9. The Tigers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, winning its first game of the season. Syracuse received its first loss after starting the year 4-0.

Sammy Popper’s goal gave Princeton the lead just four minutes into the game. Later in the first quarter, Liz Agatucci’s first goal of the season gave the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.

Princeton went up by three in the second quarter with a goal by Ali McCarthy. Though Syracuse responded with a score of its own by Quirine Comans, goals from Princeton’s Sam Davidson and Beth Yeager in the late third and early fourth quarter sealed the 5-1 win for the Tigers.

Still, SU dominated the Tigers on shots. SU tallied seven more shots (21-14) than Princeton and generated the same amount of shots on goal (9-9). Forward Charlotte de Vries racked up a season-high seven shots, her most since Oct. 10, 2021.

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The Tigers report

While Princeton dominated in conference play (7-0 with a +14 goal differential), the Tigers finished 6-4 in non-conference games. Princeton went 1-2 against ACC opponents, beating Syracuse, but losing to North Carolina and Louisville.

The Tigers brought back their entire starting lineup for this season as no players departed. Princeton improved its record by three games and have made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years.

Under Tagliente, the Tigers’ four losses are the fewest in her seven-year reign as head coach. Princeton finished with its highest regular season win percentage (0.762) since 2019, when it advanced to the national championship.

Princeton has excelled on the offensive end, ranking eighth in the country for goals per game (3.12). Yeager led the team in points for the second-straight year, averaging 2.00, which ranks 12th nationally. The Tigers excelled at taking penalty corners, attempting the second most of any team per game (8.88). For comparison, Syracuse ranks 32nd with just over six penalty corners per match.

How Syracuse beats Princeton

If SU wants to move on to the quarterfinals, it must improve its penalty corner conversions with more shots on goal. In their game against Princeton earlier this season, Syracuse tallied a season-high 11 penalty corners. However, the Orange failed to capitalize on these chances, going a staggering 0-11 on conversions.

Though SU attempted more shots than Princeton, Syracuse must put more shots on goal than it did in that game (9 out of 21). Recently, SU has looked much better offensively. In its two ACC Tournament games, over 50% of SU’s shots were on goal. The Orange need to be extremely precise with their shots Friday to advance to the quarterfinals.

Stat to know: 1.57 goals per game

Princeton goalkeeper Robyn Thompson has been excellent at keeping opponents off the board this season. The junior allowed just 1.57 goals per game in her first 16 matches, an improvement from 1.96 goals given up last year. In the later part of the season, Thompson has been even better, allowing just five goals in her team’s final five games.

Player to watch: Grace Schulze, forward, No. 13

While the junior doesn’t lead the Tigers in goals or assists, Schulze is arguably Princeton’s most versatile offensive player. The forward enters the NCAA Tournament with at least one point in her last seven games, the longest streak by a Tigers player this season. Schulze ranks third on the team in goals scored (5) and is second in assists (9). Look for her to feed passes to leading goalscorers Yeager and Popper to get Princeton’s offense going.

Published on November 10, 2022 at 12:06 am