Men's soccer finishes season with victory over Ivy League rival Yale

With an early goal, men's soccer sat back and let the defense hold on to the game. Going 2-1-1 in the second half of the Ivy League season, Princeton finally found its playing style and finished its season with an exciting win.

After losing overtime games and making too many mistakes in their last two weekends of the season the Tigers (4-8-5, 2-3-2 Ivy) finally played with consistency, tying Penn and then beating Yale, 1-0, on Saturday.

Playing in a cold and steady rain, the conditions were not favorable for the speed and attacking style of Princeton. Recognizing that the conditions would only worsen as the game continued, the Tigers wasted no time in claiming the lead.

Still finding the rhythm of the game, freshman Ben Young moved the ball into Yale territory and then took advantage of the Bulldog defense by crossing the ball to sophomore Adrian Melville. With a step lead on his defender, Melville received the pass and then broke away from the Elis. With open space in front of him, Melville put his shot past the Yale goalie and scored the first goal of the game. Only five minutes, 21 seconds into the game, the quick goal gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead, which the Tigers then held for the rest of the afternoon.

While Saturday could not be described as a great offensive performance, the Tiger defense finally found the continuity and cohesion that it has searched for all season. No one contributed more to the Tigers' shutout than senior captain Jason White. Saturday's game was White's Princeton record 26th career shutout. With Saturday's win, White doubled Robert Pawloski '93, who formally held the career shutout record with 13.

The 1-0 tie did not come easy for Princeton. After the early goal, Yale increased its intensity. The Elis attacked the once-suspect Tigers defense, but with White back in goal, Princeton never broke.

The team has spent much of the season trying to score the equalizing goal, and preserving the one-goal lead has not been easy for the Tigers this year.

Yale controlled the ball for most of the game, and maintained heavy pressure on the Princeton defense. The Bulldogs outshot the Tigers, 22-7, and Yale had 10 corner kicks while the Tigers only had two. Earlier in the season Princeton would not have been able to handle this strong of an attack, but in their last two games, the Tigers played 200 minutes without allowing a goal.

The play by the defense on Saturday had no resemblance to the team that allowed seven goals against Rutgers in late October or to the team that gave up three goals to Rider and Hartwick in September. These last two games have shown a great improvement for the team. Earlier in the season, Princeton consistently fell short in the close one-goal games. In both Saturday's game and last week's game against Penn, the Tigers managed to protect themselves from their earlier mistakes.

One difference has been the Tigers' less aggressive play. Being out-shot by 15, the Tigers were not playing the same offensive style game as Yale. Another difference from earlier in the season is that the young and immature team has finally found the experience to help it to win the close games. But more than experience, the difference between Saturday and the one-goal losses earlier in the season was White, who made nine saves in the game, and completed his second shutout in a row. His injury in September put a damper on the season, and while his younger brother, sophomore Erik White, played well, Jason White in goal makes the entire defense play better.

Saturday's win was certainly an example of too little, too late, with neither Princeton nor Yale playing for an Ivy League championship. The rivalry, though, was enough as this was a rough game with both teams focused on winning.

"We are a team that always plays to win, whether it is in practice or a championship game," head coach Jim Barlow '91 said. "This team is so competitive that it does not need extra incentive to win. I would love to be playing for an Ivy League championship, but that would not make us play any differently."

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The Tigers' season ended a little earlier than the team had hoped for, but the strong play in the final two games and the experience gained by the younger players will put the Tigers in good position for the 2003 season.