PU freshman is rookie of the week as women’s soccer stays unbeaten
By: Justin Feil
Kristina Fontanez has taken a new approach to meeting people at Princeton University. The freshman is playing outstanding soccer for the women Tigers, who improved to 4-0 with a 3-0 win over Stony Brook on Tuesday, and people are starting to take notice.
Fontanez was honored this week as the Ivy League Rookie of the Week after she scored three goals two against Lehigh in a 6-0 rout and the game-winner in a 1-0 win over Dartmouth. The honor has drawn increased attention from the PU community to the Poughkeepsie, N.Y. resident.
"More and more people want to come see you," Fontanez said. "And people want to know who you are."
Fontanez is one of the nine freshman that was ranked in the Top 25 of all classes nationally. Her class has made an immediate impact, more so than anyone was expecting, especially from Fontanez.
"I don’t think we expected this," said PU head coach Julie Shackford, whose squad hosts Columbia 7:30 p.m. tonight at Lourie-Love Field. "We knew she would be a contributor, but we didn’t think she’d got on board so quickly."
Fontanez already has four goals, good for eight points, which is just what the team’s third-leading scorer had in all of last season. It begs the question: can she continue that output? It’s something she’s wondering herself.
"It’s definitely been a good start for me," she said. "I’m really happy about it. I hope I can keep up the pace. It’s going to be tough."
Fontanez hasn’t started yet for Princeton, but she’s proven to be a valuable asset coming off the bench. She can fill either an outside midfield position or one of the two forward spots. Against Stony Brook, she played right midfield, left midfield and forward.
"I expected to play a good amount this year," the 18-year-old said. "I never expected to start. You don’t have to be a starter to do well. It’s even more exciting sometimes coming off the bench."
Nothing was more exciting to Fontanez than her goal in the 71st minute to top Dartmouth, 1-0, on Sunday. It came on a feed from fellow freshman Rochelle Willis and Fontanez was able to simply turn in a crowd and put the shot in the net from 18 yards out.
"That’s probably the biggest goal I’ve had," she said. "I was just in the right place and I got a great pass."
Shackford is looking for more finishing shots like that one as the Tigers get into the Ivy League schedule and look to defend their 2000 title. Princeton has yet to allow a goal, winning its four games by a combined 16-0.
"We’re defending really well," said Shackford, who is in her seventh year at the helm. "We’re very athletic. But we’re still having trouble finishing our chances, even though it doesn’t seem like it (by the scoring margin).
"I’d like to see us improve our creativity in the attack, our savvy around the goal. We need to be better decision makers."
Particularly, she notes, as Princeton gets into its Ivy games. After going 6-1 last year to win the league, the Tigers are the target for every team. Columbia will be no different.
"They always give us a hard time," Shackford said. "Last year was the first year we beat them at their place in a long time. It’s nice that we’re home.
"They bring athleticism, they defend well and pressure the ball well. And they’re good in the air. They have an Icelandic girl that worries me. And I’m worried because we didn’t play well (Tuesday) night."
Though Princeton scored three times, it was the chances that they missed that weighed on Shackford’s mind. Fontanez, who was held scoreless on two shots, and her Princeton teammates will look to finish their opportunities against Columbia.
"I know they’re an Ivy opponent, and we have to get up for them," she said. "We can’t let down and assume anything about them.
"We’ve got an incredible mix of talent and it’s the way we’ve been able to mix the talent together that’s helped us. You can see it. Our passes connect. Every once in a while, you’ll see individual brilliance, but mostly it’s teamwork."
It’s what it will take to return the Tigers to the NCAA tournament, an annual goal. Though Princeton lost some talented players, it is the remaining ones that have mixed with the freshman class to create a dangerous team.
"Considering everything that was expected of us, we’re doing the best to fulfill the expectations," Fontanez said. "We’ve done all right at the start, and there’s still work to do."
Kristina Fontanez just hopes that she can keep it up and Princeton can keep its perfect record. It could bring more people out to the Tigers’ games, if nothing more than to find out who these freshmen are that are stealing all the headlines.

