Tigers fall to Dartmouth in Ivy opener

Princeton has endured its fair share of hardships against Dartmouth in previous seasons. For the Orange and Black, this past Saturday featured more of the same, as they fell to the Big Green in Hanover 0-1 in their Ivy League opener.

The Tigers (3-3-1 overall, 0-1-0 Ivy League) went into this one looking for revenge, after a heartbreaking loss to Dartmouth (3-3-1, 1-0-0) at Roberts Stadium last season, a loss that ultimately cost them a shot in the NCAA Tournament. Based on their previous games, both these teams had reason to be confident going into this one — Princeton having gone 1-1 against former No. 19 American University, and Dartmouth having won 3-0 against current No. 23 Hofstra University.

Drawing from their previous games, the Tigers knew the key focus was to keep the intensity for all 90 minutes. However, an early lapse in their defense immediately threw their plans into jeopardy. Off a cross toward the middle, Dartmouth’s Eduvie Ikoba managed to slip it to Amadu Kunateh, who tapped in it for the goal. With nine minutes having passed, Princeton already found itself in a hole.

The Tigers, however, responded with vigor. A strong run down the middle and a shot from freshman defender Jeremy Colvin in the 16th minute nearly tied the game up.

However, what appeared to give the Tigers’ their greatest chance resulted not from their own offensive push, but from a Dartmouth lapse in judgment. Kunateh, the aforementioned player with the go-ahead goal, received a red card in the 26th minute, and the Big Green would be fighting a man down from there on.

However, while clearly providing Princeton a tangible edge, the red card forced a change in the Dartmouth scheme that did not quite play into the Princeton’s hands. Instead of continuing an offensive push and scoring more, the 10 men of Dartmouth backed up, trying to wall Princeton off as much as possible.

“The red card probably hurt us more than it helped us because their mentality after getting the red card was ‘We’re just going to pack everybody behind the ball. We’re going to drop all 10 men and defend like crazy,’ ” senior goalkeeper Ben Hummel said. “We couldn’t figure a way out, figure out how to cut them apart. We tried to get the ball down the flank and get the ball into the middle, but they had 10 people in the box at all times, and that makes it really, really difficult.”

This change of style became quite more obvious as play went on. Princeton had gotten off just three shots total (one from Colvin, the others from senior forward Tom Sanner and junior midfielder Vikram Pothuri), compared to Dartmouth’s five. In the second half, Princeton outshot Dartmouth a whopping 8-1. In particular, header opportunities from Sanner and junior midfielder Mark Romanowski, as the 80th minute drew near, came close to evening things up.

With the loss, the Tigers return home for their next contest, as they take on nearby Seton Hall on Tuesday. Next Saturday, they will have an opportunity to get their first Ivy League victory in Providence against Brown.

The consequences of the Dartmouth loss, especially after the end of last season, weigh on the Tigers now more than ever. Every result is critical as they hope to climb into the Ivy League title race.

“Now, having lost to Dartmouth again, we’re experiencing a little of what we went through last year, which was ‘We have a loss in the Ivy League.’ The only surefire way now to even to put ourselves in contention is to make sure we don’t lose another game,” Hummel said. “That definitely makes it urgent — it puts a lot of pressure on us, but the team being as veteran and as old as it is, I think we will have what it takes to pull it out here.”