Men's soccer stumbled in its second Ivy League game of the season, falling 3-1 to No. 22 Brown over the weekend.
The game got off to a less than auspicious start for Princeton (4-3-2 overall, 1-1 Ivy League) as Brown (6-3, 2-0) was able to net a goal early in the first half. The Tigers conceded a corner kick 12 minutes into the game and the Bears made Princeton pay on the ensuing set piece.
Forward Marcos Romaneiro took the corner well, serving a ball toward the center of the penalty area. Midfielder Jeff Larentowicz was able to deflect the cross from Romaneiro on goal with his boot, forcing junior goalkeeper Erik White to make a gutsy save. White's effort to make the initial save on Larentowicz, however, left him powerless to stop Brown's forward Brian Perry from firing the rebound into the back of the net.
For the next half hour of play, the Bears managed to retain their 1-0 lead over Princeton and looked poised to carry the lead into intermission. The Tigers continued to press for the equalizer before the end of the half as Brown appeared content to sit on its one goal lead.
Princeton's persistence eventually paid off around the 35 minute mark, as sophomore forward Darren Spicer confounded his marker and drew a penalty inside the box. The referee did not hesitate to call the foul and quickly pointed to the penalty spot.
Senior defender Jeff Hare took the penalty kick for the Tigers against arguably the best goalkeeper in the Ivy League, Chris Gomez. Gomez leads the league in saves this year, but this fact mattered little to Hare as he proceeded to fire a goal past Gomez to level the score at 1-1.
Though Gomez was dejected after conceding the penalty to Hare, his teammates were quickly able to lift his spirits less than two minutes later. Rather than dropping their heads after losing the lead, the Bears pushed forward with renewed determination until they won yet another crucial corner kick.
Brown switched up its tactics for this set piece, opting for a short corner instead of a direct lob into the penalty area. Romaneiro played a short ball to freshman midfielder Brian Joyce, who then sent a pass to midfielder Matt Goldman on the opposite side. Goldman spotted forward Adom Crew unmarked and served him a perfect ball. Crew gave White no chance to react to the shot, as Brown went ahead 2-1.
"We knew what to expect from Crew," Hare said. "We just blew one of our assignments on a corner kick, and he was left wide open, and he had a good finish on goal."
The Bears executed this set piece to perfection, reversing play and preventing Princeton's defense from settling in to defend the corner kick. In the blink of an eye, the ball was crossing the end line and Brown was back on top. The Bears carried their 2-1 lead into the intermission.
The score remained unchanged until 65:09 when Crew worked his way into the penalty area and drew the game's second penalty kick. Sophomore midfielder Neil Chaudhuri hauled down Crew in the box, though Crew may have been playing for the penalty at this stage in the game.
"The penalty that got called against us was kind of questionable. The linesman ended up calling it, not the center official," Hare said. "But that wasn't the reason why we ended up losing the game. It could have been called either way. It could have been a no call. It was just the way the linesman saw it."
Romaneiro capped off an all around solid performance for the Bears by beating White from the penalty spot for his third goal of the season, sealing the Tigers' fate. Despite some opportunities for Princeton late in the game Brown maintained its two-goal lead until the final whistle blew.
Both teams were extremely physical during the contest, as a total of 43 fouls were called by the officials, 21 for Brown and 22 for Princeton. The game nearly erupted in a brawl in the second half, when a Bears' offender tackled Hare in front of the Tigers' bench.
Ultimately, the game was decided by set plays as Brown earned ten corner kicks to the Tigers' three, and the effects of this lopsided statistic accounted for the Bear's 3-1 victory.
"Brown took advantage of their set pieces. They scored from two corner kicks and got a penalty kick too, so basically they scored on three set plays," Hare said. "We just didn't handle those situations very well against Brown."
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