Defense rules as m. soccer battles Columbia to draw

There has been much talk of curses in the past week, but one has gone unnoticed. While this curse pales in the face of the Chicago Cubs' futility or the Curse of the Bambino, the Columbia Curse has plagued the men's soccer team for nine years.

The Tigers have gone winless against their Ivy League rivals in this period, a trend they tried to reverse on Saturday night at Lourie-Love Field. Princeton (4-4-3 overall, 1-1-1 Ivy League) and Columbia (6-6-1, 1-1-1) battled through regulation and two sudden-death overtimes to a 0-0 tie.

As the score suggests, both teams had trouble breaking through stalwart defensive units to reach their opponents' goalkeepers. The Tigers were able to get four shots off in the contest, while Columbia doubled Princeton's efforts with eight.

When Columbia attackers did break through the defense, Princeton junior goalie Erik White was there to stymie the Lions' scoring opportunities. White made six saves in the game, including several on deflections off his defenders that seemed to change course in midair.

The Tigers had a little more trouble getting the ball on goal, allowing Lions goalie Dean Arnaoutakis to get by without having to make any saves.

This does not mean that they did not threaten, however. In fact, Princeton had the best scoring chance of the game nearly 15 minutes into the first half, when fancy footwork and passing resulted in a near-goal. Senior midfielder Marty Shaw collected the ball about 10 yards out from the Columbia goal, evaded a defender and dished it to sophomore forward Darren Spicer. Spicer sent it across the goal to freshman forward Kyle McHugh, who collected it, turned, and clanged it off the left post.

Several other times, the Tigers seemed to have a chance to score but were pounced on by Lions' defenders as they approached the goal.

The Princeton defense displayed its talent as well, shutting down the Columbia offense when it came too close to White. Senior captain and defender Jeff Hare was his usual rock-solid presence in the middle, while sophomore Ben Young, starting as right back, made several key sliding tackles to stop Columbia advances. Sophomore defender Neil Chaudhuri was reliable in the backfield as well as a presence on the attack. Chaudhuri moved the ball up the left side consistently and even registered a shot in the game.

Head coach Jim Barlow '91 was happy with his team's play in the tie.

"We played much better than we had against Brown or American," Barlow said. "Much tougher, much more competitive on every play, guys stayed in it and didn't drift in and out. With teams in our league being so even, the plays in front of the goal are what win games, and we just weren't quite as sharp as we need to be in front of their goal."

Columbia's swarming defense contributed to Princeton's difficulty in putting hard shots on Arnaoutakis. While the Lions played Princeton somewhat loosely in the midfield, once the Tigers approached the goal blue jerseys surrounded the ball, making it hard for Princeton to get a good shot off.

"[Columbia] is really explosive on the counterattack, so it can afford to use its speed to get behind us. I think early in the game they dropped off a little bit," Barlow said. "You have to fight not to get a false sense of security, because at any time they could be coming forward on the counter. They're an athletic team, they compete hard, and I thought it was a good game."