Men's soccer rallies to tie No. 23 Loyola

Early yesterday morning, the men's soccer team's game at Loyola was moved from 4 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. due to darkness concerns.

Someone must have been tipped off that the Tigers were going to bring their "A" game — and that the extra time before sunset would be needed.

Princeton (6-5-1 overall, 0-3-0 Ivy League) battled the No. 23 Greyhounds (9-2-1) to a hard-fought 1-1 tie. After the second overtime period, the Tigers walked off a field covered in darkness — they could barely see their Loyola opponents. The tie ended a two-game Princeton losing streak, while the hot Greyhounds extended their unbeaten streak to six games.

First strike

Loyola dominated the Tigers in the first half, outshooting Princeton, 9-2. The Greyhounds took the early lead 16 minutes into the first half. Loyola's Miguel Abreu dribbled the ball down the center of the field and knocked it past sophomore goalkeeper Jason White for his fifth goal of the season.

The Tigers, who have had trouble coming from behind this season, knew it wouldn't be easy to score against a defense that is ranked fifth in the nation with a 0.49 goals against average. But Princeton settled down and, with 28:48 elapsed in the first half, evened up the score.

Senior defender Andre Forrester received a pass on the right side of the penalty area from senior forward Matt Striebel and sent the ball into the upper right corner of the net, past Loyola's diving goalkeeper, Reb Beatty. Forrester's goal tied the game at 1-1.

Both Princeton and Loyola had numerous scoring opportunities in the second half and in both overtime periods, but neither team could quite get the ball into the back of the net. Each team ended up with 12 shots apiece, and White and Beatty each had eight saves.

While the Tigers didn't get the win, tying an opponent with a proven record did much to steer injury-depleted Princeton in the right direction. Though the Tigers' chances of winning the Ivy League are almost nil, plenty of intriguing matchups still remain on the schedule.