Men's soccer drops victory in agonizing fashion

After a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Dartmouth (6-3-1 overall, 2-0 Ivy League) to start the Ivy League campaign and a bounce back 3-2 win against Seton Hall (0-9-1) at home, the Princeton men's soccer team (4-3-2, 0-1-1) travelled to Providence, Rhode Island to face off against Brown (5-4-1, 1-0-1), who defeated Columbia (6-2-1, 1-1) last weekend.

The Tigers got off to a positive start, dominating possession and getting plenty of shots off on goal against Brown goalkeeper Erik Hanson, who was forced into some great saves. However, it was Hanson who made a costly error in the first half that allowed prolific senior striker Tom Sanner to add to his season tally and score his seventh goal of the season. After a deflected shot from senior Brendan McSherry bounced up in the box, Hanson ran out to punch the ball, but ended up missing, and with the ball kindly falling to his feet, Sanner did not make a mistake to slot home from 15 yards out.

The Tigers continued to look threatening during the first half, and peppered the Brown goal with shots, but were unable to add a second goal to their tally.

Princeton came out in the second half looking to add another and claim the victory, and came close multiple times, with both junior defender Greg Seifert and McSherry hitting the crossbar when Hanson looked completely beaten. However, it was not meant to be for the Tigers, and they were made to pay by Brown for their finishing woes.

As the game was ticking away and Brown looked less and less likely to claim a point, a rather controversial foul by Sanner gave Brown the chance to pump the ball back into the box, and a beauty of a ball from Louis Zingas allowed Jack Hagstrom to power above the defenders and head the ball into the top corner as senior goalkeeper Ben Hummel was left in two minds, whether to come out and punch the ball to safety, or to stay in his goal.

This goal pushed the game to overtime, and despite once again dominating overtime with six shots, the Tigers could not claim the victory against Brown, and had to go home with a tie in a game they knew they could have won.

The draw puts the Tigers in sixth in the Ivy League standings with just one point, whereas Brown remain at third on the table with four points, trailing league leaders Harvard (4-4-2, 2-0) and Dartmouth, who have won both their games so far. Princeton will have a three-game home stand in the upcoming week, as they play Fairleigh Dickinson before hosting Columbia (6-2-1, 1-1) and West Virginia. A victory over Columbia would allow the Tigers to jump above their opponents in the standings.

The Columbia game will be at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Roberts Stadium.