White gets fifth shutout of season as men's soccer defeats struggling Bears

With its backs against the wall, the men's soccer team had two choices — it could let its whole season slip away or could rebound and win both of its games by large margins. The team obviously chose the latter, as the Tigers beat Seton Hall Wednesday and then Brown Saturday.

After a painful week of losses to Maryland and then Harvard two weeks ago, the Tigers knew that any more losses could be the end to their season, and no player wanted the season to end in early October.

Princeton (5-2-2 overall, 2-1-1 Ivy League) made a huge statement this week as the Tigers steamrolled each team, winning 3-0 in both games.

The change of play can be attributed to two major factors: the change in attitude of the players and a strategic shift from three forwards, five midfielders and two defensemen to a lineup with four forwards, four midfielders two defensemen.

These two changes clearly made a powerful impact on Saturday's game against Brown (3-6-1, 1-1-0) at Stevenson field in Providence, R.I. Playing with their strongest sense of urgency all season, the Tigers went on the attack early.

"In the Harvard game last week, we were not very focused at the beginning and it took us a little while to get into the game," senior forward Lucas Moskowitz said. "We wanted to start the Brown game completely focused."

Moskowitz led the Princeton charge, as he scored the Tigers' first goal at 29 minutes, 19 seconds in the first half. Freshman Ryan Rich drove the ball up field and then made a long crossing pass. Moskowitz surged toward the goal and headed the ball past the Brown goalie.

The goal was just the beginning of a very lopsided game, as the Tigers controlled the ball for most of the match.

"We passed the ball very well and kept the ball away from Brown for most of the game. They became frustrated and started pressing," senior forward Mike Nugent said. "That's when we capitalized on their mistakes. All of our goals happened when they left us unmarked."

Moskowitz's goal is just his second of the season, but it is also his second in two games. The senior attributes his two goals to his move from midfielder to forward. "Playing forward is a lot easier and I get a lot more opportunities to score," Moskowitz said.

Senior Midfielder Matt Behncke scored the second goal of the game at 70:51. Extending the lead to 2-0 the Tigers now had the opportunity to play the game with the intention not to lose.

"A lead in an Ivy League game is very important. It is rare that a team wins by a huge margin," Nugent said. "Most of the teams are pretty even and we all know each other too well to blow a team out. The second goal is sometimes the nail in the coffin in an Ivy game."

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Nugent put the game away for good at 76:11 when he scored his first of the game and sixth of the season, increasing the lead to three goals. Both Nugent and Moskowitz have profited from the new offensive scheme, as each player has two goals on the week. With the score 3-0 and only a few minutes remaining in the game, the Tigers virtually played keep away until the horn sounded.

The recent offensive barrage has been met by stellar play by junior goalie Jason White, who has been perfect in the goal, with two shutouts in a row. Against Brown, White made five saves, tallying his fifth shutout of the season.

Brown used to be one of the best teams in the league as it won the Ivy

League championship three out of the last four years. But the Bears graduated their four best players and this year's team is less talented than their team from earlier years. "This is the best we have played all year and I don't think that anyone on our schedule can beat us when we are playing this well," Nugent said. "Our losses last week are almost a good thing for us. It prohibits us from getting too big of a head, and it reminds us what will happen if we do not remain focused."

The Tigers' schedule will not get any easier this week, as Princeton will face Loyola on Wednesday night at the Class of 1952 stadium. Loyola is ranked ninth in the country right now and beat Maryland, 1-0, earlier in the season.