Women's Soccer Falls to Princeton, 4-2

Sept. 27, 2003

Box Score

Despite a spirited comeback and two goals late in the second half, the women's soccer team could not climb out of its 3-0 hole against No. 20 Princeton and fell 4-2 in a night game in New Jersey.

"We made a great comeback and played well in the second half," said head coach Rudy Meredith. "It was just too little, too late."

Michelle Gosselin and Laurel Karnes each scored for Yale, while captain Lee Ann Jasper picked up an assist. Goaltender Sarah Walker finished the game with 6 saves.

The Bulldogs fell behind 18:54 into the game when Princeton's Brea Griffith knocked the ball past Walker during a scramble in front of the goal following a corner kick. The game remained 1-0 until midway into the second half, when the Tigers extended their lead to 3-0 off two goals 19 seconds apart by Esmerelda Negron and Liz Bell.

But the Bulldogs refused to go down easily and battled back, answering less than three minutes later when Gosselin redirected a corner kick by Jasper past Princeton goaltender Emily Vogelzang to narrow Princeton's lead. It was the second goal of the season for Gosselin, who earned Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors last week.

Five minutes later, Yale's Christina Huang was pulled down in the box and earned a penalty kick. But Huang's shot was stopped by Vogelzang and allowed Princeton to maintain a 2-goal cushion.

In the 87th minute, Vogelzang fumbled a free kick by Jasper, allowing Karnes to finish off the goal for her third of the season and bring the Elis to within a goal of tying the game.

For the final minutes of the contest, the Bulldogs elected to push most of their players up front to try to record the tying goal. But with 58 seconds remaining in the game, a free kick turned into a score for Princeton when Kristina Fontanez scored off the assist from Bell to give Princeton the 4-2 lead they would have at the end of the game.

Princeton improved to 6-0-1 on the season.

The Bulldogs return to action on Tuesday at home against Central Connecticut at 7:00 p.m. It is the first of six home games in a row for the Elis.