SAVING GRACE: Princeton University women’s soccer goalie Tyler McCamey makes a save in a game last fall. McCamey starred as Princeton went 10-5-4 in 2023 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, posting a 1.17 goals against average with 52 saves in 19 games. Senior McCamey, who is serving as a team co-captain this fall, will be looking to produce a stellar final campaign. The Tigers open their 2024 season by hosting Miami on August 24. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

The Princeton University women’s soccer team is hoping it can earn another NCAA tournament home victory to cap this season.

How exactly the Tigers get to that stage, though, is a big question.

Princeton will open the season with three straight home games, beginning on August 24 when Miami visits for a 7 p.m. start.

“We saw last year the early results allowed us an at-large bid because we got good results against some really powerful teams and we have a chance to do the same thing,” said Princeton coach Sean Driscoll, whose team edged visiting Michigan 1-0 in the opening round of the NCAA tournament last fall before losing at Texas Tech in the second round on penalty kicks after the foes played to a scoreless tie through regulation and overtime. “If you happen to get a couple of good wins under your belt, one, it gives you confidence too, and it gives you this other opportunity potentially to get into the tournament, which is at the end of the day what we all want.”

Princeton graduated six high impact seniors from last year’s 10-5-4 squad, including Madison Curry, who is among the top rookies for Angel City in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and Aria Nagai, who has played all but eight minutes as a graduate student for North Carolina, and Jen Estes, who has an assist in one of her first two games as a graduate student at Montana. Princeton also graduated defender Morgan Wiese, midfielder Marissa Hart, and striker Lexi Hiltunen.

“It was as influential a class as we’ve ever had,” said Driscoll. “All six seniors gave us a lot.”

While Driscoll acknowledged it’s impossible to replace the six, the Tigers are banking on the growth of their returning players and a freshman class that Top Drawer Soccer ranked 15th in the country.

“You start to see people emerge because they see opportunity,” said Driscoll. “They’re all a year older, and a lot of our kids played a ton this summer. A lot of them played with NWSL teams as well, so that gave them tremendous experience. I think what we’re seeing is just a completely different look and we’re watching kids kind of emerge and evolve. You can’t replace, you can’t replace the quality of that class. I think you just reconfigure.”

Princeton will have to fill two more spots in the first weeks of the season because junior forward/midfielder Pietra Tordin will play for Team USA and sophomore defender Zoe Markesini will play for Team Canada at the U-20 World Cup that begins August 31 in Colombia. Their selections further thin the Tigers, but also create more opportunities for others to shine in their absence. It contributes to an already fluid situation.

“We’re trying to figure out how many kids do we feel that we can count on right now and in bigger moments,” said Driscoll. “I think we’ve got a little bit of an idea. We’ll see. The only consistent thing that happens is people are inconsistent. What happens on Saturday will certainly form what we do next Thursday and they will form what we do the following Thursday, I just don’t think we’re anything close to the finished product.”

Tordin, Princeton’s leading scorer a year ago with 12 goals and six assists, will be back in the lineup after the U-20 World Cup. Senior co-captain and forward Heather MacNab, last year’s third-leading scorer (2 goals and six assists in 2023), will be a critical leader of the attack. Junior forward Drew Coomans (2 goals, 5 assists) and sophomore midfielder Kayla Wong (2 goals, 5 assists) are poised for breakout years. Senior midfielder Lily Bryant (1 goal, 5 assists) was an honorable mention All-Ivy pick. Senior defender Kiley Hamou is fully healthy to start the year, and senior defender Ryann Brown returns after missing last year due to injury following starting 12 games in 2022. In the back, Princeton expects to start senior co-captain Tyler McCamey (1.17 goals against average with 52 saves in 2023) in goal again.

“This is about the most reconfigured team I’ve had ever since I’ve been here,” said Driscoll. “And so there’s a lot of things we need to think about. There’s certainly players who we think are real top quality that we’ll feature. It’s just we haven’t maybe identified exactly in which position.”

Princeton scrimmaged against Ivy League rival Penn last Saturday. The Tigers looked good over the three 30-minute periods played. The teams agreed to play so they could get a look at themselves against an outside team, rather than just intrasquad work.

“We got a lot of kids minutes,” said Driscoll. “We kind of both did the same thing. It was a good opportunity to take a look at everybody. New faces, old faces, new positions. We were just trying to see where we are at this juncture.”

With the Tigers graduating so many from the spine of their team, it will force players into bigger roles. Princeton has been working to sort out which 11 work best when put together.

“So far we’ve seen some really good things,” said Driscoll, “but none of it matters until you get to the real games and see how people handle the emotions and the pressure in school, when school’s in session, how they handle their classes. There’s just a lot to still see. But I would say that, in general, we’re happy with where we are.”

A strong freshman class could help mitigate some of the graduation losses. The highly regarded class will have its chance to fill in some of the holes.

“All the first-year kids have been really, really good,” said Driscoll. “They get along incredibly well, which is hugely important and they’ve been really well received by the team because they’re hard working, they’re conscientious, they’re talented, but they’re all humble and they’re willing to roll their sleeves up and do some dirty work as well. So I’m really, really happy with the freshmen.”

Princeton will look to two of its most veteran players for leadership. MacNab and McCamey can lend their voices and their examples at either end of the field. The two are Princeton’s lone captains this year, a designation that Driscoll calls the “hardest job on the planet” because of the demands to serve the team while also remaining top notch individual players.

“They have to look at the totality of the team first and then themselves last, and that’s hard,” said Driscoll. “Both Heather and Tyler have a professional mentality. They’re both aspiring professional players and they have that mentality. They are incredibly diligent, incredibly fit, so focused on getting better, want more and want as much information as they can get. They want to continue to educate themselves in the game. They push themselves to the utmost, they are without question an extension of the coaching staff. They absolutely love this game with an incredible passion and like our captains last year they lead by example in every training session. They don’t take moments off.”

Princeton will face some early tests of its retooled lineup. They face Miami out of the ACC, Seton Hall from the Big East on August 29, and Big Ten power Penn State on September 5, a top-five national team.

“The early games can help,” said Driscoll. “They can set the table for you in that regard. You have to be prepared to play in the in the league. So these games hopefully, by the time Pietra and Zoe come back, people have gotten a lot more experience and we’re a better version of ourselves.”

Two of Princeton’s non-conference opponents have coaching connections. The Tigers will travel to William & Mary on September 8 to face former Princeton coach Julie Shackford’s team and will play at Fairfield on September 18, where Driscoll coached before succeeding Shackford.

“We always have a challenging schedule for a multitude of reasons,” said Driscoll. “Mike [Poller] (Princeton’s associate head coach) does a really good job putting it together. Kids want to come play good teams. they don’t want to just play run-of-the-mill teams that they feel like they’re way better than. They want to go and play name programs and programs with success and historical success and we have a number of teams on our schedule that provide that.”

Princeton begins Ivy League play September 28 at Cornell. The overall picture for the league has four-time defending champion Brown as the favorite. Princeton was third in the Ivies last year and played in the first Ivy League Tournament. The Tigers have been to the NCAAs in two of the last three years, and they are looking for a formula to build toward another trip.

“What I’m hoping for right now, more than anything is to find the camaraderie and most importantly establish and keep the culture at a place where everyone is ready to go, the next person is ready to get up and play if need be,” said Driscoll. “We need all hands on deck at this point, and with losing the two kids for a few weeks and a couple injuries we have, everyone needs to be prepared to play.”

The Tigers’ first test comes Saturday against Miami (0-1-1). It’s just a starting point for a team that could go through several changes as it looks to figure out a path back to the NCAA tournament by the end of the year.

“I do like the group,” said Driscoll. “We have a lot of really talented players. I think you’re going to see some kids emerge that maybe we’re under the in the in the shadows of older players.”