Men's soccer follows double overtime victory with close loss

It's better late than never.

The men's soccer team feels the truth behind this old saying a little more deeply now than before it left for Philadelphia. Freshman midfielder Darren Spicer's goal with 4.9 seconds remaining in double overtime on Sunday lifted the Tigers (1-1-2 overall) to a 1-0 win over La Salle and saved them the ignominy of going winless in their first four games of the season.

Princeton dominated the game from beginning to end but, as is beginning to become a trend, simply could not find the back of the net.

"We had a lot of chances to score in regulation but we didn't convert," Spicer said.

The Tigers' control of the game finally paid off when a Princeton defender won the ball in the backfield and passed it to freshman midfielder Alex Reison.

Reison carried the ball up the side of the field while Spicer sprinted out wide. Recognizing he was not going to receive the ball, Spicer cut to the center of the goal and Reison chipped the ball over the defenders. Spicer beat the Explorer goalie to the ball and put it in the back of the net, sending the team to a well-deserved first victory of the season.

"It was a great pass," Spicer said. "I just tried to get to the ball before the goalie did and put it past him."

On Friday, the Tigers were not as lucky and suffered their first lost of the season to Drexel by a score of 3-2. The Dragons (5-1-0) grabbed the early 1-0 lead when Justin Sandler scored in the 12th minute of the opening half.

The lead remained unchanged through halftime and the opening minutes of the second half. Princeton finally got on the board when freshman midfielder Sean Paylor scored his first career goal at 59 minutes, 13 seconds off an assist from sophomore Adrian Melville.

The tie was not to last long, however, as the Tigers were done in by defensive lapses in the 62nd minute that led to Drexel scoring two goals within 23 seconds of one another.

With the game knotted at one apiece, Jeff Parke put in a header at 61 minutes, 29 seconds to give the Dragons the lead. Less than half a minute later, Derek Bickford found the back of the net with what would prove to be the eventual game-winner.

The Tigers did not fold, however, and junior Marty Shaw cut the Drexel lead to one with 17 minutes left in regulation. Unfortunately, that was all they would get, as Princeton dropped its first game of the season and Drexel extended its winning streak to five games.

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"That was one of our worst games yet," Spicer said. "We weren't playing well as a team and winning the individual battles, and Drexel was able take advantage of that."