Sanner, Hurtado will fill void left by last year's seniors

This article is part of our 2015 Fall Preview

The Princeton men’s soccer team had a successful 2014 where they shared the Ivy League title with Dartmouth after five wins, one draw and one loss, but sadly missed out on the NCAA Tournament because of their head-to-head record against Dartmouth, whom the Tigers lost 2-1 to in a heart-wrenching overtime loss at Roberts Stadium.

The Tigers will be looking to do one better this year and claim another Ivy League title, which would be head coach Jim Barlow’s fifth in his 20 years at the helm. The Tigers will also be aiming to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2010, the season when the team went undefeated and cruised to the Ivy League title.

Coach Barlow is excited for the upcoming season and has high hopes, he said: “We think we have a strong team and hope to repeat as Ivy champs and get deep into the NCAA tournament. We know every team in our league believes it can win the Ivy League, and every game is close. We think we have the experience and leadership to help us during crucial moments of the season.” He then added: “Right now, Brown and Columbia are both undefeated, and we know the league title chase will be incredibly close again this year.”

However, the team will face its fair share of challenges, especially with the loss of key players who have recently graduated, such as midfielder Myles McGinley, defenders Andrew Mills and Joe Saitta, and most notably, forward Cameron Porter. All four were considered indispensable starters and their contributions were also recognized by many others as both Saitta and McGinley received Honorable Mention All Ivy-League, whilst Mills was voted into the Second-Team All-Ivy League.

Porter’s successes were even greater than his teammates’. He finished with 15 goals and four assists from last season. His 15 goals led the NCAA and he was subsequently voted the Offensive Player of the Year for both the ECAC and the Ivy League. The forward’s success saw him greatly rewarded as he was selected with the 45th pick in the MLS SuperDraft by the Montreal Impact where he will have the opportunity to train and play alongside football legends such as ex-Chelsea star Didier Drogba. Although an unfortunate knee injury ended his 2015 season prematurely, Porter had already become a household name in Montreal after scoring an injury-time winner in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals against Mexican club C.F. Pachuca.

Although replacing the likes of Mills and Porter will be a big challenge, the Tigers are fully capable of doing so. The Tigers will look to the trio of seniors Thomas Sanner, Nico Hurtado and Brendan McSherry to lead the attack this year. The three players had a successful 2014 season in their own right, scoring a combined 13 goals and had 11 assists as well, but will need to push their own game to a new level to drive the Tigers to another Ivy League title.

“We did lose a talented group of seniors last year, and Cam did score a lot of big goals for us," Barlow commented. "However, we return three senior forwards who have all started many games and have scored big goals for us, and those guys have the talent and potential to help our attack be strong again this year. In the midfield, back and goal, we return a good number of players who played a huge role in our Ivy championship last year. We are also excited about our freshmen class, and we are confident that we have talent and depth in all the parts of the field.”

The Tigers have already started their season, having already played three away games so far at St. John’s in New York and FGCU and Florida International, both in Florida. The Tigers have had mixed success in these games, winning 2-1 against St John’s to extend their unbeaten streak to ten games, before dropping both games in Florida after conceding late goals. Although the Tigers did not have the most desirable of starts, the team came out strong in their home opener against Boston University, winning 2-1. They will look to improve on this victory as they play on the road this Saturday against Binghampton.

“Right now we are focused only on our next match. We hope to get a lot of fans to come out and support us," coach Barlow said.

The team will need to start building some momentum before they kick-off their Ivy League campaign; the first team they will face will be co-defending champions Dartmouth, as the Tigers hope to avenge the 2-1 loss from last season. With a strong returning squad and exciting new additions from the freshman group, the Tigers hope to continue their success against Ivy League opponents as they aim to defend their Ivy League title this year.