Men's soccer continues losing streak, falls in heartbreaker to Columbia

The men's soccer team controlled the ball, slowed the Columbia attack and even scored the first goal, but all that was not enough for Princeton to defeat the Lions on Saturday, as the Tigers dropped their fourth in a row.

Everything seemed to be going the Tigers' way until a mistake by the defense led to a Lion goal with only 5 minutes remaining in the game. Princeton (1-5-2, 0-2 Ivy League) watched its Ivy League record drop to 0-2, leaving the team in last place in the league.

Princeton thought that it had the lead when sophomore Adrian Melville received a pass just outside of the Columbia goal, shook off a defender and scored the first goal of the game, breaking the 0-0 tie in the 79th minute.

But just as Melville took his shot, the referee whistled the play dead and called a foul on Melville for pushing the defender, thus nullifying the goal.

"It was a 50-50 call. That was a play which I have seen called a penalty before and sometimes the ref lets it go," head coach Jim Barlow '91 said.

Even after the goal was called back, the Tigers did not lose their momentum. They went right back on the attack and continued to pressure the Lion defense. It was this aggressive offense, however, that led to Columbia's goal.

After the Tigers lost possession of the ball, Columbia cleared the ball from their zone with the intention of protecting their goal. But a mishandling of the ball by the Tiger defense left a loose ball deep in the Princeton zone.

Columbia's Tommy McMenemy beat Princeton's defense to the ball, and found himself alone on the Tiger side with a breakaway.

Dribbling to within 10 yards of the goal, McMenemy slid his shot just under sophomore goalkeeper Erik White, and scored the ball just inside the right goalpost.

McMenemy's goal in the 85th minute sealed the game for Columbia.

With the 1-0 lead and only five minutes left to play, Columbia brought all of its players into the defense and Princeton was unable to get a decent look at the goal.

Suffering their fourth loss in a row, the idea of momentum has become a distant memory for the Tigers. Now what the team must do is focus on the things they have done right.

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"Prior to the goal, that was our best half of the season. We were controlling the game and it looked like we would score at any minute," Barlow said.

But even with the strong play of the half, the Tigers lost the game on a fluke mistake by the defense. The same errors have now beat the Tigers five times this season.

However, in a game that was played mostly on the Columbia side, it was the offense that failed to carry the team.

Trying to address this problem, Barlow moved junior captain Jeff Hare from sweeper to the midfield.

"Jeff had one of the best performances I have ever seen by a Princeton player," Barlow said.

Even with the strong play of Hare, the Tigers were still incapable of finishing on any of their attacks. A major problem for the team was its cross-balls.

"It was bad crosses that stopped us. With all the time in their half, we should have scored," Barlow said.

While the Tigers have now lost five games on the season, the combined deficit of all their losses is only five goals.

"With a little luck we could be 8-0 right now, but we just aren't winning," Barlow said. "We need to focus on the fundamentals and the little things and that is what we will win us these close games."

Some of Saturday's loss can be chalked up to inexperience. Princeton had seven freshmen with significant minutes in the game.

Also, two of Princeton's captains, seniors Matt Douglas and Jason White, did not play in Saturday's game.

White is still recovering after an injury from the Dartmouth loss last weekend and Douglas missed Saturday's game to take the LSAT. Both players were sorely missed, as Doulas is a team leader on offense and White is one of the best goaltenders in school history, holding the university record for shutouts in goal.

Even with the four-game losing streak, the Tigers' schedule will not get any easier. On Wednesday the Tigers will face No. 12 American University at Lourie-Love Field.

Princeton played to an exciting 3-3 tie last year with the Eagles, who have returned most of its starters from last year's team, which went deep into the NCAA tournament.

"We have a young team on the field right now, and we are not worrying too much about wins and losses at this point in time. With the parity in the Ivy League, someone could win the league with several losses.

"We just need to improve and then we will start winning," Barlow said.