With Senior Sheehy Showing Sense of Urgency, PU Women’s Soccer Moves Closer to Ivy Crown


RAY OF HOPE: Princeton University women’s soccer star Rachel Sheehy boots the ball in action last season. Last Saturday, senior midfielder Sheehy got two assists to help Princeton top Harvard 3-1. Sheehy was later named the Ivy Player of the Week for her performance. On Monday, the Tigers topped LaSalle 2-1 in overtime to win their ninth straight game and improve to 11-3-1 overall. Princeton is 5-0 in Ivy League play and in sole possession of first place with both Penn and Dartmouth at 4-1 in league play. The Tigers play at Cornell (1-12-1 overall, 0-4-1 Ivy) on October 27. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)
Even though the Princeton University women’s soccer team was knotted in a scoreless draw with visiting Harvard last Saturday evening as the second half started, Tiger senior star Rachel Sheehy could sense the tide turning.
“We were going forward; we were finding our targets,” said midfielder Sheehy. “Caitlin Blosser and Jen Hoy were awesome holding the ball. We got in a rhythm.
Taking a corner kick 15 minutes into the half, Sheehy found Blosser in the box and she converted the feed to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. After Harvard tied the game at 1-1, Sheehy struck again, slotting a free kick into the crease which Blosser slammed home. Princeton added an insurance goal by Hoy minutes later to put the finishing touches on a 3-1
triumph.
The win was the eighth straight for the Tigers and improved them to 5-0 in Ivy League play and in sole possession of first place with both Penn and Dartmouth at 4-1 in league play.
Sheehy pointed to the team’s response to the Harvard goal as emblematic of the team’s will to win.
“I think that is a testament to the leadership we have with upperclassmen on the field,” said Sheehy, a native of Exton, Pa. “In the past, we have kind of panicked. We really settled down and we just fought back.”
In getting her two assists, Sheehy coolly took care of business. “We have great targets like Blosser and Gabriella Guzman,” said Sheehy, who was later named the Ivy League Player of the Week as she posted her first career multi-assist game, and now has a career-best five assists on the year.
“They were open back post, I find them and they do the hard work. On the second one, I wanted to take that one and I took it back post and Guzman got her foot on it.”
In Sheehy’s view, the team’s great run has been sparked by the desire of the team’s seniors to go out on a high note.
“We are definitely on a mission; the senior class hasn’t won the Ivy League yet and we are just hungry for it,” asserted Sheehy, who is one of eight seniors on the squad which stretched its winning streak to nine as it edged LaSalle 2-1 in overtime on Monday in improving to 11-3-1 overall.
“Really nothing at this point is going to stop us as long as we keep playing well. We have two more games. We are going to get through Cornell and get the final one at Penn.”
In playing the best soccer of her career, Sheehy is feeding off that sense of urgency.
“I think the fact that this is it,” said Sheehy in reflecting on her late surge. “I have such a finite number of games left. My whole life has come down to this.”