By Bill Alden

Lucy Rickerson is just a sophomore, but she stands out as the most battle-tested player on the back line for the Princeton University women’s soccer team.

Last fall in her debut campaign, Rickerson made 17 appearances with 16 starts, earning Honorable-Mention All-Ivy League honors at defender as she played alongside senior stars Natalie Larkin, Mikaela Symanovich, and Katie Pratt-Thompson.

With the trio having graduated, Rickerson has assumed a leadership role despite her relative youth.

“It was definitely a little intimidating at the beginning of the year because we weren’t sure what we were going to do. All three seniors that we graduated were amazing players and mentors to me,” said Rickerson, a native of San Diego, Calif.

“It has been that transition from me being the freshman on a back line with seniors to having to step into that leader role, which is very humbling. I am very thankful that I get to do that. I hope we can just continue to grow; that is all we can do.”

Last Sunday evening, the back line showed growth, holding the fort as the Tigers battled to a 0-0 draw through two overtimes against visiting Drexel, moving to 5-2-1 and earning their fifth shutout of the season.

“I think we did a really good job this game; we got a shutout and they definitely had chances,” said Rickerson, who is being joined in the back by junior Olivia Sheppard, sophomore Emily Hilliard-Arce and sophomore Eve Hewins.

“Numbers four (Rachel Sharkey) and six (Shaelyn McCarty) for them were amazing players. The fact that we held them speaks a lot to how we have grown as a back line this year and people stepping up at those positions.”

Princeton head coach Sean Driscoll liked the way his team stepped up in the second half after getting outshot 4-2 in the first half.

“I thought we were a lot more proactive defensively in the second half,” said Driscoll, whose team had a 7-4 edge in shots over the last 45 minutes of regulation.

“We made them work harder to get out of situations. We created a lot of turnovers in the middle third, we created some turnovers in the final third. We made the game more difficult for them and that was from a change in the intent of the defending, playing with more focus.”

Driscoll credits Rickerson and Sheppard with displaying good focus in the middle of the Princeton defense.

“Lucy and Olivia played every minute of the game today and they played every minute of the game against Georgetown (a 2-1 overtime loss on September 13); they are a good partnership,” said Driscoll, whose team has been yielding 0.75 goals a game this season.

“Emily did well, Eve did well; they are all working supremely hard. They are still figuring things out back there because they are new playing together. We don’t give up many goals. It is a credit to them and credit to the players in front of them working hard to help.”

The Tigers need to produce better work around the goal. “We created better chances in the second half, I thought, than they did,” said Driscoll.

“In the first overtime, I thought we were better. In the second overtime, I thought they were better. The plan was there; the execution was not as good as we would like but we kept the ball really well, we moved the ball, we generated chances. I think the reality is that we just need to get better in the final third. You have to give the maximum effort every second you are on the field from the first minute to the last.”

With Princeton opening its Ivy League campaign at Yale (5-2-1) on September 22, Driscoll is confident he will get a big effort from his players.

“It is a great group of kids, we have a lot of talent,” asserted Driscoll. “We move the ball very well in the middle third of the field, we move the ball very well out of the back. We just have to get better in the final third; that is our focus.”

Rickerson, for her part, believes that the Tigers are primed to show their talent against the Bulldogs.

“Every game we have grown a little bit, no matter the outcome, and we have learned a lot about ourselves so I personally feel very good going into this first game with Yale,” said Rickerson.

“We know what we need to work on. We have been watching Yale’s games as well; it is going to be a great matchup. Yale is always a great opponent and all of the Ivy games have a different energy. I am excited to get into that. It is fun to play against schools who we have a lot of respect for and get to see every year.”