No. 25 Seton Hall tops men's soccer

After a spirited upset Saturday of then-No. 21 Brown, the Princeton men's soccer team (5-3-3 overall, 1-0-1 Ivy League) didn't have enough left in the tank to take down its second-consecutive ranked opponent.

No. 25 Seton Hall (8-4-1 overall) topped the Tigers 3-1 in South Orange, N.J. yesterday afternoon, ending Princeton's unbeaten streak at four games and extending its own home unbeaten streak to 15 games.

The Pirates jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half when senior Jerrod Laventure took advantage of a Princeton miscue in the 14th minute. Tiger senior goaltender Erik White attempted to make a pass from the goal box, but Laventure intercepted it and scored from seven yards out.

Seton Hall caught the Princeton defense napping just 14 minutes later. Laventure dribbled in the Tiger zone and passed to junior teammate Michael Zotti, whom the Tigers had to foul to prevent from getting an easy scoring chance.

The Pirates were awarded a penalty kick on the play. Sophomore Sacha Kljestan took the kick, which White knocked down, but the rebound went straight back to Kljestan, who made good on his second attempt to put Seton Hall up 2-0 before the break.

Princeton was, for the most part, shut down offensively in the first half. The team's best chance came on a free kick by junior forward Darren Spicer, but his attempt flew well wide of the net.

The Tigers, who have had trouble scoring as of late, finally got on the board in the 84th minute. Junior midfielder Sean Paylor bent a free kick inside the post to cut the Pirate lead in half.

"Our team came out flat in the first half," sophomore defender Rachman Blake said, "however, I think we got a boost in the second half from players coming off the bench. Sean Paylor played especially well, coming up with a big goal to help us on offense. Unfortunately, it was not enough for us to overcome the deficit in the game."

Junior midfielder Sean Paylor echoed that the team came out flat.

"We could not build up much momentum in the first half," Paylor said. "We were having trouble stringing together passes to allow ourselves to get into the game offensively."

It appeared to be too little, too late for Princeton, and Seton Hall made sure of it just under three minutes later.

Pirate sophomore David Roman got by his defender then sent a crossing pass to Zotti, who knocked a header into the back of the net.

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Seton Hall is now 13-0-2 in its last 15 games on its home turf — T. Carroll Field.

The Pirates outshot the Tigers 24-11 in the game. White, bombarded by 11 shots on goal, made eight saves in the loss for Princeton. Only four of the Tigers' shots made it on goal.

"Our team had some careless mistakes and giveaways that led to their goals," Blake added.

"I didn't think anyone was very happy after this game against Seton Hall," Paylor said. "I think we will be able to bounce back for the rest of the season. We have a couple of league games coming up, so we can get back on track."

Princeton's next two games are Ivy League affairs — Saturday at Columbia and Oct. 23 versus Harvard.