Women's Soccer

Princeton Climbs to No. 14 Behind 8-1-0 Mark

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Columbia junior forward Emma Anderson, Penn sophomore forward Emma Loving and Brown freshman forward Star White were recognized as weekly award winners after netting Ivy League game-winners for their respective clubs. Anderson and Loving were dubbed Co-Players of the Week, while White was selected as the Rookie of the Week. 

LEAGUE NOTES
  • Princeton is ranked in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll (No. 14, Week 6 – Sept. 26) and Top Drawer Soccer Women’s Division I Top 25 (No. 14, Week 7 – Sept. 25). The club, which is 8-1-0 on the year, also sits seventh in the NCAA Women’s Soccer RPI.
  • The Tigers own two of the Ivy League’s three wins over ranked opponents in 2017. Their lone loss was to then-No. 6 West Virginia, 1-0, on Sept. 15.
  • Princeton has allowed just two goals on the season and ranks fourth in the nation in goals against average (.222), fifth in shutout percentage (.778) and sixth in save percentage (.909). The Tigers .889 winning percentage also registers seventh in NCAA Division I.
  • Ivies boast a .598 non-conference winning percentage with a 37-24-5 record.
  • Columbia's Emma Anderson was named the NCAA Soccer Player of the Week (Sept. 27), following her 10-point week. 
  • Three Ivies are tied for 25th nationally with seven goals on the season—Brown senior forward Mikela Waldman, Columbia junior forward Emma Anderson and senior forward Natalie Neshat. Neshat paces the group with .78 goals per game, ranking 15th in NCAA Division I. Waldman and Anderson sit 32nd with .70 goals per game.
  • Brown’s Mikela Waldman also ranks among the nation’s elite in game-winning goals (2nd, 4), points (16th, 18) and points per game (19th, 1.80). Columbia’s Emma Anderson joins Waldman ranking 35th in points (16) and 36th in points per game (1.60).
  • Brown freshman forward Star White and Princeton senior midfielder Vanessa Gregoire pace the Ivy League and sit 32nd in NCAA Division I with five assists. Gregoire ranks 16th in the nation with .63 assists per game.
  • Princeton sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Grossi ranks fifth nationally with a .250 goals against average, seventh with six shutouts and eighth with a .905 save percentage.
  • Harvard junior goalkeeper Danielle Etzel sits sixth nationally with a .917 save percentage and ninth with a .387 goals against average. Her twin sister—Christine Etzel, who is Brown’s starting goalkeeper—concluded the 2016 campaign ranked among the top five nationally in both categories.
  • Brown boasts three of the League’s seven double-digit point-getters in Mikela Waldman (18), Star White (13) and Celia Story (12).
  • All four of this week’s League matches will be broadcast on the Ivy League Network, which is available on Apple TV and Roku. The network can be found at IvyLeague.TV and IvyLeagueNetwork.com. Three of the matches will also be simulcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App. 
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, September 29
Cornell at Penn, 7 p.m. [ESPN3] [ILN]
 
Saturday, September 30
No. 14 Princeton at Dartmouth, 1 p.m. [ESPN3] [ILN]
Brown at Columbia, 4 p.m. [ILN]
Harvard at Yale, 7 p.m. [ESPN3] [ILN]
 
KEY
ESPN3 – Broadcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN App
ILN – Broadcast on the Ivy League Network, now available on Apple TV and Roku

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior forward Emma Anderson tallied 10 points in a 2-0 week for Columbia, as the Lions opened League play 1-0-0 with a 2-0 win at Cornell and broke a 30-year-old single-game scoring record with 11 goals against Wagner.
 
Anderson netted what would prove to be the game-winner in Columbia’s Ivy League opener, finding the back of the net just 3:06 into the contest at Cornell for Columbia’s quickest strike of the season. The Bethesda, Md., product then added three goals and two assists, as the Lions dismantled Wagner to the tune of 11 goals. Anderson had the game’s lone hat trick, while three other Lions tallied a pair of goals in the 11-0 shutout.
 
Anderson is Columbia’s first Ivy League Player of the Week this season and was also the Lions last award winner on Oct. 3, 2016.
 
Anderson’s Statistics for the Week
1 G, 5 SH, 2 SOG at Cornell
3 G, 2 A, 7 SH, 5 SOG vs. Wagner
 
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Penn had not won a women’s soccer match in Cambridge, Mass., since 2007. That is until sophomore forward Emma Loving helped the Quakers break the 10-year drought with the game’s lone tally on Sept. 23.
 
The Doylestown, Pa., product fired far post in the 30th minute, beating Crimson goalkeeper Danielle Etzel for what would prove to be the game-winner in the 1-0 decision. Loving’s goal snapped Etzel’s 384-minute scoreless streak and was the Quakers first goal against Harvard since 2013. With the victory, Penn also overcame a five-year losing streak to the Crimson.
 
Loving earns the first Ivy League Player of the Week nod of her career and is the Quakers first selection since Erin Mikolai on Nov. 11, 2013. She played in all 16 matches as a freshman a year ago, en route to All-Ivy Honorable Mention accolades.
 
Loving’s Statistics for the Week
1 G, 1 SH, 1 SOG at Harvard
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman forward Star White has found the back of the net in 4-of-10 matches in a Brown uniform. None have been more impactful than her 92nd minute strike against Dartmouth.
 
White took a feed from Celia Story in the box then sent a shot into the right side of the goal just 1:24 into overtime to lift the Bears to a League-opening victory over Dartmouth on Sept. 24. The win was Brown’s fifth-straight and also gives the Bears a program-record three overtime victories on the season. Six of Brown’s eight victories have been by a one-goal margin. Another of those one-goal victories came on Sept. 20, when White registered an assist in a 2-1 victory over Sacred Heart.   
 
White—a Norfolk, Va., native—is Brown’s second Rookie of the Week honoree this season, joining teammate Zeinab Kante (Aug. 28).
 
White’s Statistics for the Week
1 A, 2 SH vs. Sacred Heart
1 G, 6 SH, 3 SOG vs. Dartmouth
 
HONOR ROLL
Mikela Waldman, Brown (Sr., F – San Francisco, Calif.)
1 G, 1 A, 3 SH, 1 SOG vs. Sacred Heart
4 SH, 1 SOG vs. Dartmouth
 
Natalie Neshat, Columbia (Sr., F – San Diego, Calif.)
1 G, 4 SH, 2 SOG at Cornell
1 G, 1 SH, 1 SOG vs. Wagner
 
Chrissy Mayer, Cornell (So., GK – East Windsor, N.J.)
110:00 Min., 0.00 GAA, 13 Saves at Fairleigh Dickinson (0-0-1)
 
Mimi Asom, Princeton (Jr., F – Dallas, Texas)
1 G, 4 SH, 1 SOG vs. Yale
 
Olivia Kane, Princeton (Fr., M – Rockville, Md.)
1 G, 1 SH, 1 SOG vs. Yale