CARY - Princeton received no gift in its first state girls soccer playoff appearance. The Bulldogs met defending state champion Raleigh Charter Wednesday afternoon on the spacious pitch at WakeMed Soccer Park.

The Phoenix advanced as expected, taking a 7-1 victory, but the fact that the Bulldogs were here and able to score just added to what was a great season.

Princeton set a school record for victories, shutouts in a season (seven) and beat a pair of 3-A teams. The Bulldogs finished 9-5-1.

"We had a dynamite season," said Princeton coach Tim Besel. Raleigh Charter took a 1-0 lead on a penalty kick 11 minutes in, then added a second goal six minutes later.

A rebounded shot off of the Princeton goal post led to the third goal of the match for the Phoenix with 14 minutes to play in the first half.

"We stacked the defense with our big gun players but the plan didn't work," Besel said. "After their second goal, we moved back to our normal positions and started to play much better."

The Bulldogs cut the lead to 3-1 in the 28th minute of play when Morgan Brush crossed a free kick in front of the net to Hattie Dougherty. Dougherty put the perfect one-time touch on the ball, sending it into the net for Princeton's first ever playoff goal.

It was another milestone moment in a historic season for the Bulldogs. "I turned to the girls on the bench and said, 'We just scored on the state champs!" Besel recalled.

The defending state champs did the rest of the damage from there, however. Raleigh Charter added two more goals in the final six minutes of the first half for a 5-1 advantage.

The Phoenix outshot the Bulldogs 32-4 on the afternoon. Camile Morgan led Raleigh Charter with three goals and an assist.

Princeton goalie Amber Brush made 17 saves in the match.

The Bulldogs will return all but one player from their roster for the 2009 season: senior Katie Gibbs.

Editor's Note: This is a special early release story from next week's print edition of The Herald.