COMING TOGETHER: Members of the Princeton University women’s soccer team celebrate during their 3-0 win over Brown last Thursday in the semifinal round of the Ivy League tournament. The top-seeded Tigers went on to fall to second-seeded Dartmouth 1-0 in the final on Sunday at Roberts Stadium to end a late surge which saw Princeton bring a six-game winning streak into the contest. The Tigers ended the fall with a record of 8-6-3. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
When it was over, the players and coaches on the Princeton University women’s soccer team gathered on the pitch at Roberts Stadium, hugging and consoling each other one by one as tears flowed.
The sad scene came in the wake of a 1-0 loss to second-seeded Dartmouth in the final of the Ivy League tournament last Sunday, a defeat than ended an unlikely run by the top-seeded Tigers to the championship game after they had started 1-2 in Ivy play.
Senior defender Drew Coomans laid prone on the field for minutes after the final whistle before getting to her feet to commiserate with her teammates and coaches as the Tigers ended the season with an 8-6-3 record.
“There is a lot of emotion, being a senior and being with my class and that being our last soccer game with this program on our field,” said Coomans. “There was a lot of feeling of that being the last. It is also a privilege to play our last soccer game on our own field. It was bittersweet of course to get this far with this season. To get two extra games at home was already something that was a dream come true.”
A month ago, the Tigers never dreamed that they would get to the final after a 1-0 loss to Yale on October 4 left them at 2-5-3 overall and 1-2 Ivy.
“After that Yale game at home, it was definitely a low of this season,” said Coomans. “We gathered the next day all together and decided that was going to be our turning point of the season and our do-or-die moment. Our team just rallied into this gritty and united form for the rest of the season. That was really empowering to see as a senior and something we had hoped for the whole time. Something that really came to light as the games went on.”
On Sunday, the Tigers showed grit as they valiantly pressed forward after Dartmouth took a 1-0 on a blistering free kick by Stephanie Lathrop with 27:29 left in the second half.
“I did feel it coming, our team is really gritty and we all have each other’s backs,” said Coomans, who moved up to her natural position of forward in the final stages of the contest. “After that goal went in, we all rallied behind each other and were determined to turn that game around. We were a little unfortunate with the opportunities that we had in the outcome of the game to not get one or two in there but that is the way games go.”
Princeton head coach Sean Driscoll acknowledged that Dartmouth limited his squad’s scoring opportunities.
“They defend really well, they had a great season,” said Driscoll, whose squad generated 10 shots in the loss with just three on goal. “They don’t concede many goals, they limited our shots. It is a tough team to get a rhythm against. Credit to them, they held a pretty potent offense to very few chances. Unfortunately I think we played into their hands little bit too much today. They did a great job.”
At the defensive end, Princeton battled hard as they held the Big Green to six shots.
“We were not completely ourselves, that is what I will say,” said Driscoll. “I think a lot of that goes to them. I thought defensively we were solid. We just didn’t keep the ball as well as we should have as a group which we normally do.”
Coomans concurred, noting that the Tigers weren’t at their best.
“We knew their game plan, coming out from the last time we played them and they executed it very well,” said Coomans. “I don’t think we showed up as quite the team we were planning on that day. We needed to be the best version of ourselves to win that game. I am not sure we showed up as that version.”
Over the season, Coomans and her fellow seniors played their hardest no matter where they were on the field as the squad dealt with a number of injuries.
“My class is really unique, what is so great about all of us is a lot of us did not end up playing the person that we came in,” said Coomans, a 5’4 native of Long Beach, Calif., who ended up with six goals and 15 assists in her career. “Me and Kelsee [Wozniak] were both recruited as outside forwards. Kelsee switched back to right back around last year so earlier than me going back to left back this year. Pia [Beaulieu] stepped in as our six. The rest of our class made big sacrifices for the greater good of the team. Our whole team was amazing but I think the desperation and grit that my senior class has shown is something that really helped pull this team back from what felt like a place we couldn’t recover from.”
Driscoll credited the senior group with holding things together as the Tigers produced their late surge.
“In general, we have a really good senior class that embraced their role,” said Driscoll. “We moved some kids around in different positions and they responded well.”
Coomans exemplified that mentality through her move to defense after starring at forward over her first three seasons with the Tigers. After earning second-team All-Ivy honors as a sophomore and junior, Coomans made first-team All-Ivy this fall as a defender and was named the Ivy Defensive Player of the Year.
“It was really unexpected moving back to defense, I always thought it was game by game situation,” said Coomans. “I honestly love left back a lot, it was fun to be in a new position. Where I can benefit and help my team the most is where I want to be. It is a very different look at the game, I have played right forward for my whole soccer career basically. It was something that was unfamiliar to me in a lot of ways. The Defensive Player of the Year was definitely unexpected. I have never won an offensive or defensive Player of the Week honors so to get Defensive Player of the Year was shocking to me.”
Driscoll was not shocked to see his players battle to the final whistle on Sunday.
“In general, it as a team that just kept fighting,” said Driscoll.
“It is a great story. It didn’t end as well as we would have liked it to but we can’t lose sight of the fact that we had a great run and that we rolled off six in a row. It was really impressive. They didn’t give up, they are resilient. I am sorry that this is how it ends. I feel for them.”
Coomans, for her part, will always remember the resilience displayed by the Tigers this fall.
“Last year we had a very good season as well, winning the Ivy League regular season and the tournament and this year winning the Ivy League as well,” said Coomans. “Both of these seasons were so different. What jumps out to me about this season is that turning point and when we decided that we weren’t going to accept how the season was going. I think that desperation and passion that my senior classmates and all of us showed it makes the story so much better than everything going perfectly. That is what is really going to stand out for me in this senior season. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t perfect but it all works out. We all fought for each other and that is what makes a team great.”