Men's soccer falls to Columbia 0-2 at home

It was a tough weekend for the men of Princeton soccer, as they took their second Ivy League loss of the season this weekend, falling 0-2 to the Columbia Lions this pastSaturdayat Roberts Stadium.

With the loss, the Tigers (5-4-2 overall, 0-2-1 Ivy League) face a highly precarious position, with their chances of repeating as Ivy League champions in great jeopardy. They have already suffered more league losses so far this season than they had in the entire 2014 season. The Lions (7-3-1, 2-1-0) move to third place in the league standings.

As they prepared to host Columbia, the Tigers’ main priority was keeping high intensity throughout all 90 minutes of play. It had been an emphasis of theirs since the very beginning of the season — players had indicated previously how during the early games of the season against Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida International — the Tigers had put out 45 minutes of play, but still fell short by one goal in both contests.

It was small moments, the small time spans where attention wanes, that ultimately brought them a loss and a draw in their Ivy League bouts with Dartmouth and Brown, respectively — one a very early goal to put Dartmouth ahead, one a very late goal to give Brown the tie.

The battle against Columbia was tough from the start – it was an even struggle through the first 45 minutes, as both teams headed into the locker rooms still tied in a goalless draw. Each team seemed to display equal amounts of aggression, with 5 shots total per team in the half. The game, however, certainly lacked the early fireworks of the last time these two met in the Big Apple, where both Columbia and Princeton scored within the first 20 minutes.

This time, however, Columbia would be the first team to get on the board, as Princeton began to fall behind. Princeton did make threats in the second half, as a header from senior forward Tom Sanner, the Ivy League’s leading goal scorer, made Lions fans sweat before it was saved by goalie Kyle Jackson. However, when Columbia went back on the attack, they struck Princeton hard. Following a shot by Columbia’s Dylan Mott that senior goalie Ben Hummel denied, the Lions’ Antonio Matarazzo found his mark, putting a curve on his shot to find the back of the net.

Columbia remained on the aggressive throughout, and the Tigers found themselves unable to stop the Lions’ second goal of the night, coming in the 86th minute. With a 2-0 lead, there was little for Princeton to do as the visitors went on to victory.

With the loss, Princeton looks forward to the last of their third game homestand, a battle with West Virginia University on Tuesday evening. Next weekend, they will receive another chance for their first Ivy League victory as they take on the Harvard Crimson. The battle against the men of Cambridge could be one of Princeton’s toughest league matches to date. The Crimson currently stands tied with Dartmouth atop the Ivy League, having won all three of their league games so far.