Men's soccer holds on to beat FDU in game's final seconds

Surging from the first whistle, Princeton sent an early message to Fairleigh Dickinson, as the Tigers pushed the Knights all over the field for the first 15 minutes of the game.

In a very evenly played game, the Tigers took an early one goal lead, when freshman Adrian Melville tapped in a shot after sophomore Marty Shaw and freshman Ryan Rich drew the Knights goalie away from the net with 35 minutes, 11 seconds left in the first half. After such a quick goal, the Tigers thought that they might be en route to a second-straight high scoring game.

But after the first goal FDU shut the door on the Princeton offense. The Knights made the game exciting with two near-goals in the last 30 seconds. Junior goalie Jason White made brilliant saves on a penalty kick and a corner kick, and game ended, 1-0.

The first half had two distinct parts, as the Tigers dominated the first 20 minutes, but Fairleigh Dickinson controlled the last 25. A major reason for the change was a head injury to sophomore sweeper Jeff Hare. While lunging for a ball during the 22nd minute, he smashed his head into a Knight defensemen, causing a deep gash into the right side of his head and knocking him out of the game.

Head coach Jim Barlow made a strategic addition of an extra midfielder for the second half. He pulled back one forward, giving the Tigers less offensive power, but more help for the defense. Coach Barlow's decision paid off, as the Tigers were able to hold the Knights zero goals in the second half.

Junior goalie Jason White was a major reason for the Tigers strong defense, as he made seven saves during the game. "Jason is a great goalie, he is used to pressure situations," said Barlow.

The loss of Hare early in the game forced the Tigers to change their game plan.

"Without Jeff, we played really well. He has been our only guy in that position for a year now, so I was pleased to see our resilience," Barlow said.

In a game with little offence, Melville scored his second goal of the season, moving him to a tie for the team lead with senior Mike Nugent.

"I was really pleased with the goal," said Melville. "It was one of those things which is sort of just an instinct. Marty (Shaw) and Ryan (Rich) set me up beautifully. It is amazing playing with guys like Nugent and everyone else, they always put the ball in the right place."