If only the men's soccer season began in late October.
Had the Tigers' season started with their 1-0 homecoming win over rival Harvard, they would be sitting atop a 2-1-1 Ivy League streak right now with very realistic hopes of defending their 2001 Ivy title. As it is, Princeton's 1-0 win over Yale this weekend capped a strong finish in which the potential the team had demonstrated in tantalizing flashes all season finally translated into some wins. Although the Tigers finished well, it was too little too late, and they end the season with a disappointing 4-8-5 overall record (2-3-2 Ivy League).
"Overall the season was a disappointment for the team," senior goaltender Jason White said. "We had a very talented team, but we had trouble getting the pieces to fit right for most of the season."
One of the areas in which the Tigers had the greatest difficulty solving the jigsaw puzzle was the offense.
Last season Princeton outscored its opponents 35-15 en route to a 10-3-5 record. This year, the Tigers could only muster 19 goals, while they gave up 29 to their opponents.
Sophomore forward Adrian Melville led the team in scoring with three goals and three assists for a total of nine points. Melville was followed by freshman forward Darren Spicer's three goals and two assists (eight points), while senior forward Matt Douglas and freshman midfielder Alex Reison had seven points apiece.
These numbers stand in stark contrast to last season's scoring totals. Mike Nugent '02 alone put up 12 goals and six assists (30 points) last year — one point less than the Tigers' top four in 2002 combined.
This lack of scoring might not have become such a large problem for the Tigers if they had consistently been able to hold a lead once they got it. All season, Princeton was hampered by defensive breakdowns soon after scoring a goal, which promptly gave any newly-gained momentum back to its opponents.
"I think we had some trouble gelling as a unit defensively and, by no fault of any one player, had some defensive breakdowns as a result," White said.
"[Freshman] Ben Young had a great year, [senior] Bob Nye had a great year, and [junior] Jeff Hare had a great year, individually. But as a unit, and the goalies are part of that unit, we did not always get the job done."
Indeed, no evaluation can be made of the Tigers' season without mentioning their goaltending. After White went down with a hip injury in a Sept. 28 game against Dartmouth, his brother, sophomore Erik White, filled in admirably. Erik White's .619 save percentage gave the Tigers a fighting chance in the games he appeared in, but the defense missed the steady presence of its four-year starter.
Princeton can look to the way it concluded its season as a hopeful portent of things to come.
The defense, anchored by captains Nye and Hare, clamped down on the opposing teams in the Tigers' final four Ivy League games, shutting out Harvard, Penn and Yale and surrendering only one goal to Cornell.
Young got into the act on the offensive side of the ball at Yale, assisting on Melville's game-winning tally only five minutes, 21 seconds into the game.
Underclassmen came up big with goals for the Tigers this season, and three of their top four scorers have at least two years left in their college careers. The benefits that come with a season of experience were already manifesting themselves late in the season, and should be even more evident next year.
"After losing to Rutgers and to the referee in the snow at Cornell, we finished by shutting out two of the tougher teams on our schedule this season," White said. "We knew what we had to do to win and we executed. The team feels very good about how the season ended, and, while we wish the results came earlier, we're already looking forward to redemption next season."
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