December 18, 2002: Sports
Of
wins and twins
Double duties for expectant women’s soccer coach
Field
hockey’s high hopes languish
Ninth consecutive Ivy title highlights year
Sports Web Exclusives! P-nut Gallery column
Of
wins and twins
Double duties for expectant
women’s soccer coach
Photo: Julie Shackford coached the women’s soccer team to its fourth straight NCAA appearance. (beverly schaefer)
Coach Julie Shackford helped put Princeton’s women’s soccer team in the spotlight this season. But it wasn’t the Tigers’ 12-game, season-opening win streak or their top-15 national ranking that earned her and the squad ink in newspapers around the country. The focus was on the twins a pregnant Shackford carried all season.
“The only time I can get press is when I’m 50 pounds overweight,” jokes Shackford, who was eight months pregnant when her team’s season ended November 15 with a 2—0 loss to 12th-ranked Penn State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. She was also seven months pregnant with her daughter, Kayleigh, in 2000 as the Tigers headed into the NCAA tournament.
This year’s pregnancy did little to slow Shackford in her eighth season at Princeton. She coached the team to a 13—3—1 record and its fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance. The Tigers also won their first outright Ivy League championship after sharing the title the previous two years.
“The pregnancy was not difficult, although I started to get more tired toward the end. The only thing I did differently was not play with the
team,” says Shackford, who is due December 27. She plans to return to campus and her off-season coaching duties after a two-month maternity leave. “It will be a challenge, but I can’t think of a better environment in which to raise kids.”
The pregnancy was not all Shackford, a three-time All-American at William and Mary, had to deal with this year. She was hit with a late-season bout of bronchitis, which led to a broken rib caused by violent coughing attacks.
“Despite all of that, she was our foundation the entire season,” says Heather Deerin ’03, who earned first team, All-Ivy honors for the fourth consecutive year, the 34th athlete in Princeton history to do so.
If Shackford was tired, she did not let her team know. “She kept the same intensity from the beginning of the season until the end,” says Esmeralda Negron ’05, whose eight goals led the team this season.
The Tigers and their coach almost made history when they jumped out of the gate with 12 wins, making them the country’s only undefeated, untied team at the time. The streak ended in a double-overtime thriller at home against Harvard on October 26 that the Crimson won 1—0. The only Princeton women’s soccer team to win more consecutive games was the 1980 squad, which won its first 14 games in the program’s inaugural year as a varsity sport.
“It was hard not to think about the winning streak, although we
did try not to talk about it too much,” says Deerin, who spearheaded
a defense that allowed only 11 goals this season. “It’s kind
of like when a pitcher is throwing a perfect game, you just don’t
talk about it and hope not to jinx it.” 
By. A.D.
Field
hockey’s high hopes languish
Ninth consecutive Ivy title
highlights year
By Paul Hagar ’91
Photo: Ilvy Friebe ’03 made the All-America first team for the second straight year. (beverly schaefer)
As field hockey season came to an end, the Tigers should have been savoring yet another Ivy title and an eighth appearance in the NCAA tournament.
But in the days following a 3—2 loss to Penn State on November 17 – just a game away from the Final Four – the team instead was looking back on a rocky road and wondering what might have been.
The first sign that this season would be difficult came in its debut, a 3—2 loss to Ohio at Class of 1952 Stadium. Princeton hadn’t dropped an opening game in 10 years. After falling behind, the Tigers evened the score and dominated the game late, but couldn’t put in a winning goal. It was an unfortunate trend that would reemerge throughout the season, as the team consistently produced more shots and more scoring chances off penalty corners than its opponents.
“I think this team is an example of our record [12—7 overall, 7—0 Ivy] not reflecting the quality of team that we are,” said coach Beth Bozman. Her disappointment was understandable – the Tigers’ seven defeats were more than in any season since 1990, when the team was 8—8. To be fair, five of her team’s losses were to opponents ranked in the top 10 nationally, two of which were ranked number one at the time.
And it’s not as though the Tigers have nothing to celebrate. Princeton extended its dynasty in the Ivy League with a ninth consecutive championship (10th overall), and a third consecutive undefeated league season. Ironically, the Tigers’ success in the Ivies may have hampered its ability to climb the rankings. It entered the tournament ranked ninth nationally, a ranking that resulted in a lower seed in the NCAA tournament.
Princeton’s final two games encapsulated the ability and angst of the 2002 squad. On November 16, the team upset national-champ Michigan, 4—3, to avenge last season’s loss in the semifinals. A day later, however, the Tigers would lose to Penn State despite out-shooting them 17—10, hitting three shots off goalposts, glancing one off the crossbar, and missing two empty nets.
“You hate to admit it, but you do need a little luck to win,” said Bozman. “And I believe you create your own luck. But looking at what we did all year, you have to wonder what more we could have done.”
In 2003, despite losing seniors on attack, including stars Ilvy Friebe,
who earned her second straight Ivy Player of the Year award, and Rachael
Becker, as well as goalie Kelly Baril ’03, Bozman will be looking
for an unprecedented 10th Ivy League title. According to the coach, the
team returns “a good core group,” centered on juniors Cory Picketts
and Claire Miller, along with a host of talented sophomores and an infusion
of new talent at attack and in goal.
Paul Hagar ’91 writes frequently for PAW.
Sports shorts
Photo: Cameron Atkinson ’03 (beverly schaefer)
Princeton football (6—4, 4—3 Ivy) ended its first winning season since 1997 on a high note as Cameron Atkinson ’03 saved his best for last. The senior tailback ran for a career-best 233 yards on 28 carries, including 181 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-point fourth quarter, to carry the Tigers to a 38—30 win over Dartmouth at home November 23. With 1,028 yards, Atkinson became the first Princeton back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since Keith Elias ’94 in 1993. The men’s basketball team opened its season with a 62—59 win over Western Michigan in the first round of the Sooner Invitational in Oklahoma November 22. Judson Wallace ’05, who made the All-Tournament team, scored nine points and grabbed 14 rebounds in his first career start and Spencer Gloger ’04 led all scorers with 18 points. But Princeton was unable to do much against its hosts the following night as Oklahoma, ranked third in one national poll at the time, took the championship game 82—63. Andre Logan ’04 led the Tigers with 16 points. The men’s rugby team defended its Eastern Penn Rugby Union league championship title, drubbing West Chester 36—5 on October 27 and avenging its only loss of the fall season. The team, which is coached by Tom MacFarlane ’88, is seeded fourth in the spring’s Mid-Atlantic regional tournament and will be vying for a national title.
In men’s soccer, Jeff Hare ’04 was a unanimous All-Ivy first-team
selection for the second straight year, and Bob Nye ’03 was selected
to the second team. Women’s volleyball’s Abby Studer ’03
and Kellie Cramm ’04 were selected to the All-Ivy first team, while
their teammate Michelle Buffum ’03 made the second team. In women’s
soccer, Emily Behncke ’06 was named the Ivy League Rookie of the
Year. The men’s water polo team placed cocaptains Kevin Foster ’03
and Robert Urquhart ’03 on the All-Southern first team. Peter Sabbatini
’05 and John Stover ’06 made the second-team All-Southern. Foster
was also named first team All-Eastern, while Urquhart was selected to
the second team.
By. A.D.
