Here's To The 2017 Women's Soccer Team

TigerBlog was at courtside yesterday for the men's basketball team's 83-76 win at FDU.

As he sat down in his seat before the game, an FDU administrator sat next to him. And what was the first thing she said?

"That was a great run by your women's soccer team."

Yes. It was. A great run. With an all-time epic win mixed in along the way. 

As it turns out, the two greatest seasons in Princeton women's soccer history both ended with losses to UCLA.

Back in 2004, that came in the NCAA semifinals. In 2017, this past Saturday night in Los Angeles, it was one round short of another Final Four.

You can debate forever which was a more amazing accomplishment - reaching the Final Four in 2004 or beating North Carolina in the 2017 Round of 16. TigerBlog's colleague Andrew Borders called that game, Princeton's 2-1 overtime win a week ago, "The Miracle on Grass."

If you're looking for a major difference between the two seasons, TigerBlog has one for you.

The 2004 women's soccer team was similar to the 1997-98 men's basketball team, or the 1998 men's lacrosse team, or the 2003 women's lacrosse team, or the 2012 field hockey team, among others.

What was the common denominator for those teams?

They all knew they were primed for great things before the season started. They had every indication coming into the season that those particular teams had all the pieces, all the experience, all the talent, everything necessary to make a big run. And they did.

Those are among the greatest teams Princeton has ever seen, certainly in the time TigerBlog has been around. They hardly were surprises.

The 2014-15 Princeton women's basketball team went 30-0 in the regular season and 31-1 overall. It's unlikely too many people predicted that before the year started, and in fact Princeton received only nine of the 17 first-place votes in the Ivy League preseason media poll that year.

The 2017 women's soccer team was closer to that. Princeton had a 10-4-3 record in 2016, but that included a 2-3-2 Ivy season.

What did 2017 have in store? Princeton certainly had potential, but were the Tigers a sure thing in the league? No.

From Day 1, though, it was clear that this team was special. There was a series of strong non-league wins, and then a 6-1-0 run to an outright Ivy League championship. That was followed by an NCAA wins over Monmouth and North Carolina State, followed by that little miracle on the Carolina grass.

The Princeton community, both on campus and in the local area, responded in a big way. In all, it was one of the best seasons any team has had that TigerBlog has seen at Princeton.

As for the UCLA game, the Bruins dominated the first 20 minutes and scored two goals 2:24 apart to take control. It looked like it might be getting completely away.

Ah, but it didn't.

First, Princeton goalkeeper Natalie Grossi was spectacular. If you forgot, it was Grossi's save on a PK against North Carolina State that kept Princeton in the tournament in the first place. Then she made six saves, her season high, in the win over North Carolina.

All that led up to her first half against UCLA, when she was incredible. She made seven saves in the first half alone, and pretty much every one was tricky. Without her, it would have been a blowout by halftime.

Instead, it was only 2-0. Then Princeton changed things around, going toe to toe with the Bruins. And then it became 2-1 in the 54th minute, when Abby Givens - who had the game-winner against UNC - slipped one into the net.

This time, that would as close as Princeton would get. UCLA would answer about six minutes later, and though the Tigers would claw til the end, the final would be 3-1.

The 2004 season earned Julie Shackford the national Division I Coach of the Year Award. The 2017 season should get Sean Driscoll into that conversation as well, and it's hard to imagine that too many coaches, if any, did a better job with a team this year than he did.

The end of the women's soccer season means that the next outdoor sporting event for Princeton will be lacrosse in mid-February. That's exciting, right?

This is a very busy week for Princeton Athletics, and there was a lot going on over the weekend as well. The men's hockey team had a nice win over Bemidji State. Bella Alarie had a third straight double double as Princeton beat Davidson in women's basketball. There was the men's basketball game, where Devin Cannady and Myles Stephens were unstoppable and Princeton held off a furious late charge by the Knights. And the women's volleyball team found out its NCAA tournament draw.

As for this week, there's home men's hockey Tuesday, Friday and Saturday (Quinnipiac, Dartmouth, Harvard). There's a basketball doubleheader Wednesday.

And then there's tomorrow.

It's TAGD, which stands for Tiger Athletics Give Day. It's a one-day fundraising competition between Princeton's teams and Friends' groups, the fourth straight year that Princeton Athletics will be having one.

The first three have been very successful. They've been a sign of the loyalty that alums and Friends feel for the Princeton teams, and everyone involved with Princeton Athletics has been greatly appreciative of the support.

That's TAGD tomorrow, and TB will have much more on that tomorrow.

For today?

It's another chance to recognize the 2017 Princeton women's soccer team. It's accomplishments are among the best that Princeton has ever seen.