Women’s soccer (8-2-1, 3-0 Ivy League) shone in a historic performance on Sunday, defeating Princeton (7-5, 1-2) 6-1 on the Tigers’ home field. It was the first time since 2018 that the team scored six goals in a game, marking the Bears’ third consecutive Ivy play victory.
“Today was a tremendous performance from our team,” said Head Coach Kia McNeill in a news release. “We executed the game plan perfectly.”
Bruno didn’t waste any time launching their offense, scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes and two more by the end of the first period to bury the Tigers in an early deficit. Brown also ended the game with 12 shots on goal compared to Princeton’s three.
According to Kayla Duran ’22.5, the team’s success was a product of their positive energy and attitude. “Right from the start of the game, we were hungry to score goals and had an advantageous mindset, which allowed us to capitalize on our opportunities,” Duran wrote in a message to The Herald.
“Scoring three goals in the first 20 minutes (against) Princeton gave us a boost of confidence … that we have the potential to play at such a high level when we are all at our best,” Duran added.
The team narrowly defeated Columbia (6-3-2, 2-1) last weekend, but members of the team noted their offensive performance on Sunday was much stronger.
“Before the game, we all said that how we played against Columbia was not indicative of our top potential,” wrote Ava Seelenfreund ’23.5 in a message to The Herald. “We had a mindset shift and every player who stepped on the field was willing to give it their all in every moment at Princeton.”
“At the beginning of the season, we were successful when we were scoring in the first 10 to 15 minutes of each game,” Duran noted. “To get back into that mentality, as a team we set a goal to have the first shot, corner kick and goal within the first 15 minutes.” Brown ended up recording all three within the first two minutes and 50 seconds of play.
It wasn’t just one player who carried the Bears’ offense. Five different players accounted for the team’s six goals, including Seelenfreund, Evelyn Calhoon ’24, Sheyenne Allen ’23, Kira Maguire ’24 and Brittany Raphino ’23 — the team’s points leader responsible for their lone goal against Columbia last weekend.
“The fact that we had five different goal scorers today just shows how dangerous our team can be in the final third,” McNeill said. “I’m proud to walk away with a strong team win.”
“Coming off such a statement game is huge for our confidence,” Raphino said. “We showed ourselves and the rest of the league how dominant we can be on both sides of the ball.”
The Bears will look to ride their strong momentum into next Saturday’s home showdown against Harvard (8-1-2, 2-0-1 Ivy League), who currently sits in second place in the conference.
“We all know that Harvard is going to be a battle,” wrote Seelenfreund. “We know how we can play and all week we will be getting ready for this game. Confidence is up and we want to maintain that as we head into the weekend.”
Linus is a sports editor from New York City. He is a junior concentrating in English, and when he's out of The Herald office you can find him rooting for the Mets, watching Star Wars or listening to The Beach Boys.
