MAD GOOD: Princeton University women’s soccer player Madison Curry, right, goes after the ball in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior defender Curry helped Princeton earn a 1-1 tie at Harvard last Saturday. The Tigers, now 8-2-3 overall and 3-1-1 Ivy League, play at Dartmouth on October 21. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

Madison Curry would love to extend her college soccer career into December when the NCAA Women’s College Cup culminates in Cary, N.C.

Curry’s return from a gap year for her senior season at Princeton University this fall is one reason the Tigers are aiming that high.

“You see how much it means to her,” said Princeton head coach Sean Driscoll. “It was a major void not having her last year. She just brings a whole different drive.”

Curry has helped the Tigers start 8-2-3 overall and 3-1-1 Ivy League heading into the final two weeks of the regular season as Princeton plays at Dartmouth on October 21 before hosting Columbia on October 28. In a 1-1 tie at Harvard last Saturday, the senior defender helped limit the Ivy League’s leading goal-scoring attack. The Crimson had the better of play in the first half, but the Tigers made adjustments and controlled more of the play in the second half. Jen Estes scored the Princeton goal and goalie Tyler McCamey made six saves in holding off Harvard.

“We definitely wanted to win,” said Curry, a native of Coto de Caza, Calif. “We didn’t go with any intention to tie. That being said, I think it’s a good result on the road. If anything, it instilled belief in the team. Ivy League games are so tough, no matter who you’re playing. You just never know what can happen. I think we’re really positive about where we can go this season.”

Princeton sits tied with Harvard for second in the Ivy League, five points behind first-place Brown (5-0 Ivy). The top four teams will compete in the inaugural Ivy League Tournament following the regular season. The NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee will post its top 16 teams Thursday in a possible preview of what its NCAA tournament bracket will look like November 6. Brown is the only Ivy team currently ranked in the Top 20, but Princeton is ranked ninth in the RPI.

“A lot of it comes down to our confidence and our will to win,” said Curry. “Looking at the team from a bird’s-eye view, I think we are good enough to compete with anybody, I don’t think that’s a question. I just think coming from a mid-major, we sometimes get stuck in this imposter syndrome thinking that we might not be good enough or might not be able to win this. But I think our mentality this year has been to prove to everyone that last year stuff didn’t go our way, but this year is our chance to leave our mark on college soccer and on Ivy League soccer.”

Curry is making her mark on the Tigers in her final season. She is a captain for the first time and has helped to set the tone for the players, even those that hadn’t played with her before this year. She has transitioned into the bigger role in her return.

“My junior and freshman year, I didn’t have to step into a captain or leadership role as much just because I had people older than me,” said Curry. “I had people like Lucy Rickerson with more experience since freshman year. What the team I think knew about me coming in is no matter what, if there’s anything that you could never doubt, it’s that I’m going to put in everything I have to every practice and game. Because I do that, I expect the same from everything else. I’m definitely a lead by example type of player and captain.”

Curry is looking to cap her Princeton career by helping to push the team to new heights. She has been a first-team All-Ivy League selection in each year that she played (2020 did not have a season due to COVID-19). The last season that she played for Princeton in 2021, the team went 15-3-1 and fell in the NCAA tournament in overtime to No. 8 TCU. She was home in California during her gap year, and had to watch her teammates struggle in a 9-7-1 campaign in 2022.

“It was definitely a hard year for me,” said Curry. “I stepped away from the team because I didn’t feel that I could give what I normally could. Despite the team not having the best season, I think it was for the better. Seeing them go up and down just because they were so young and didn’t have ton of experience, it pushed me to become as best a leader and a player as I could in my offseason. It just motivated me more if I’m being honest.”

Curry trained with the semi-pro men’s team, AMSG, run by trainer Ismaiel Alkayali. He pushed her to improve on the field and in the gym.

“I played with boys just because all my friends were at college,” said Curry. “I played with boys growing up a lot. They don’t give you a lot of leeway, so you always have to be improving.”

Before she returned to Princeton, she trained with the KC Current, the NWSL franchise owned in part by Kansa City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and his wife, Brittany, in the summer. It gave her a sneak peak of the professional women’s demands, a lifestyle that she will pursue in January when she puts her name in for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Draft.

“I think Sean and I knew since coming in that I’m so professionally minded in the way that I come to training and the way I play every day that I’m not ready to give it up,” said Curry. “And I want to see what impact I can make in the league because I think I can make a big one.”

Curry will still have one season of NCAA eligibility, but does not anticipate using it. To do so would mean leaving Princeton again, this time to play for another college as a graduate student.

“Just the relationship I have with the coaches and the team, I can’t imagine playing anywhere else,” said Curry. “Just the person I am has so much to do with being a Princeton student-athlete and working with Sean and Mike [Poller] that going anywhere else, it wouldn’t be the same and I don’t want to ever jade those memories of college soccer that have been so awesome. They’ve been with me through the ups and downs that I have so much to be grateful to them for that I’m ready to go to the next step with them.”

Curry is hoping to take her game to another level over the next month. She has tallied a career-high two goals this fall despite playing defense, and remains vital to the backline, but she is never satisfied with her play.

“I always want to help more and give more,” said Curry. “Probably this year I want to get into the attack more. I am, but I want to create more quality chances. I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me. Defensively, that part I’m pretty satisfied at the moment, knock on wood. It’s creating more quality chances and pushing the overall speed of play to be quicker and the will to win, I want to be the engine of the team more than I have been.”

Curry has returned hungrier than ever. Her year away sparked her to return an even bigger force than she has been in her first two seasons with the Tigers, and it has set her up to advance beyond college soccer.

“I’ve grown so much in my gap season,” said Curry. “Sean can attest to that. I’ve matured a lot and become a better person and a better soccer player. I don’t think I would have been ready a year ago even having that season. I think taking time away and finding such passion for the game again and working with the coaches to see how I fit back into the team and as a captain, it’s been invaluable. It’s been so great for me.”

Driscoll believes that Princeton has benefited from Curry’s fire. His other returning players were already motivated to improve upon last year, and then they added her to the mix. Her skills stand out, but it is the way that she approaches soccer that is maybe even bigger. She is part of a senior class that has spread its lofty aspirations to younger players.

“When your best players create the standard in which people train, it changes the whole complexion of your team,” said Driscoll. “Madi is about the top player in the league, in my opinion one of the top players in the country, and she leads by example through her work rate. So she takes no minutes off in training, she works incredibly hard from minute one until we end the training session — just as she does in a game.”

Princeton will need to be at its best as it returns to Ivy play on Saturday at Dartmouth. Winning on the road has been quite the challenge in the conference this year for every team, and Dartmouth sits in fourth place, the final spot to qualify for the inaugural Ivy League tournament with a game at Brown left.

“I think there will be a lot on that game,” said Driscoll. “They really need to win that game knowing that they’re going to Brown and to put themselves in playoff position. I don’t know if they can secure a spot with a win (over Princeton) but I know if we win, we secure one. There’s a lot going on here. It’ll be very, very interesting.”

Driscoll believes the key for any team at this point in the season is handling the pressure and keeping their identity. Princeton has plenty to play for in the remainder of the regular season. One more league win puts the Tigers into the Ivy tournament, and further extends their season and the careers of seniors like Curry.

“That’s the beauty of the Ivy League tournament,” said Curry. “A couple years ago, we would have been in totally different headspace with one Ivy League loss, but now we’re even more motivated than we have ever been.”