When the final whistle blew, it not only signified the end of the game, but the end of the season for the men's soccer team.
The Tigers walked off the field with a feeling of disappointment, having just been handed a 3-1 loss to Yale (9-7-1 overall, 4-3 Ivy League) in New Haven, Conn. The Tigers needed a win against the Elis to be considered for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament.
It was not to be, however, as Princeton (9-7-1, 2-5) finished off a troubled season — one in which high expectations went unfulfilled. The defending league champions went an impressive 7-2-1 in non-league play, but just could not win the close games against league opponents, finishing a disappointing 2-5 in the Ivy League.
"Obviously we're very frustrated with the results in the league," head coach Jim Barlow '91 said. "We look back at the games we lost in the league, and it's pretty frustrating to see the little plays we didn't make at the right times — giving away goals or not scoring goals — made the difference, especially in the three 1-0 games lost to Columbia, Cornell and Brown."
Ups and downs
Saturday's very physical game had its fair share of both dismal and shining moments for the Tigers. After Princeton fell behind 1-0 in the 12th minute thanks to Eli forward Justin Burton, the Tigers regrouped and put together several scoring opportunities.
One of the Tigers' best chances came when senior forward Matt Striebel went streaking down the field toward the goal, only to be taken out from behind by a Yale defender. The Eli received only a yellow card, but Princeton would get a penalty kick.
Junior midfielder Matt Behncke took the free kick in the one-on-one with Eli goalkeeper Danny Moss. Behncke lined up, approached the ball, but put a little too much on his kick, sending it just past the upper corner of the net.
Behncke quickly made up for it, however.
"In the first half, Matt Behncke played as well as any Princeton player that we can remember," Barlow said. "He had a stretch where he just took over."
Right before halftime, Behncke received the ball just over midfield and proceeded to beat several Yale defenders en route to the goal. Just when everyone thought he was going to shoot, and the defense had all drifted to the right side of the field, Behncke laid off a perfect pass to senior midfielder Garrett Bartolotta, who sent the ball into the back of the net to tie the game with five seconds left in the first half.
"We thought we were going to have momentum," said junior forward Mike Nugent, who returned after a leg injury sidelined him for six games. "But it just wasn't that way."
The Tigers gave away an uncharacteristic goal in the first five minutes of the second half. Princeton lost the ball off its own throw-in, and Yale sent a quick pass toward the net that caught Tiger netminder Jason White off guard on the line. The defense wasn't able to break up the play quickly enough, and the Elis went up, 2-1.
To make matters worse, several minutes later freshman midfielder Gianfranco Tripicchio slide tackled an Eli from behind, received a red card and was ejected from the game. The Tigers had to play a man down.
"They outplayed us in the second half," Nugent said.
This was an occurrence that happened one too many times in league games this season.
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