Rider squeaks past men's soccer for overtime win

Soccer games last 90 minutes, though you wouldn't know it after watching the men's soccer team. After only five games this season, the team has played just one 90-minute match. After pulling out the win, 1-0, Sunday against La Salle on freshman forward Darren Spicer's goal at 108:54, the Tigers took it past the century mark in minutes Wednesday afternoon against Rider at the Lawrenceville campus. The results, however, were slightly different this time. Princeton lost the game, 3-2, with the Broncs scoring in the 106th minute of play.

Princeton dominated possession in the game's first 45 minutes, and came away with a 1-0 lead at halftime.

Surprisingly, the most promising opportunities that the Tigers earned in the period were not responsible for breaking the scoreless tie. Princeton earned two free kicks early in the match.

Junior midfielder Marty Shaw sent the ball just wide of Rider keeper Brian Gill off a free kick some 30-yards out. Gill, who a play earlier had injured himself in a collision with sophomore forward Adrian Melville, had to leave the game with five minutes remaining in regulation. Another free kick, launched low by junior midfielder Gianfranco Tripicchio from near the left-corner flag, just missed re-direction and was topped by Rider's Gill.

The Tiger goal ultimately did come on a deflection, though unlike Tripicchio's play, the ball that set up the goal was intended originally as a shot, not a pass. Freshman midfielder Sean Paylor received a corner kick in the 39th minute from just outside the 18-yard box. Paylor settled the ball and launched a low shot that appeared to be drifting wide until junior forward Vincent Vitale put his right foot on the ball. The shot entered the goal just inside the left post.

The early seconds of the second half proved to be a forecast for the remainder of the game. Just 15 seconds into the half, Rider scored on a semi-breakaway to even the game at one apiece.

"We talked at halftime about how the first couple minutes of the half were so important," head coach Jim Barlow '91 said. "That goal killed us."

The quick goal didn't deflate the Tigers immediately, however. Princeton kept up its high level of play, controlling the ball for much of the time, just as it had in the first half. The Tigers showed what seemed like midseason form in what was only the team's fifth game of the year.

The away team finally broke the 1-1 tie in the game's 85th minute, when an unselfish play by Spicer put the team up in the waning minutes. A streaking Spicer, in control of the ball but with a defender on his heels, had the chance to shoot but opted to make a pass to wide open sophomore midfielder Teddy Van Buren. Standing just inside the 18, and defenderless, Van Buren lined a ball just inches off the turf past the Rider keeper.

He celebrated with a dance which riled the Rider Broncs just a little.

Two minutes after the Van Buren goal, and with the game in the Tigers' grasp, Rider came right back to even the score. Rider forward Brett Aefsky lofted a ball with a left foot that appeared to be just a casual effort to tie the game, though Princeton senior keeper Jason White misjudged the shot and allowed the ball to fly right over his head and into the back of the net. With the score tied, 2-2, after regulation, the game went into overtime.

"We let them score 15 seconds in to the half and then with three minutes left," Barlow said. "Those goals gave them a lot of confidence. They found a way to hang in there."

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Coming into the game, Princeton had a record of 1-0-2 in overtime games. The Tigers earned ties against Farleigh Dickinson and Seton Hall in their first two games of the season then beat La Salle in overtime Sunday.

Neither team could score in the first 10 minutes of play in Wednesday's contest. Rider finally found the net with five minutes remaining in the final overtime period, however. A Rider forward streaking down the right side of the field fired a pass to the center of the box where Rider's Sean O'Hare volleyed it into the back of the net. White had no chance on the shot.