Senior goalkeeper Bobby Guelich knew he was in for a challenge against No. 9 Akron (8-0) on Sunday. The undefeated Zips had outscored their opponents 30-3 this season and were not looking to give anything away.
Nonetheless, Guelich kept Akron at bay for the first 87 minutes with an acrobatic performance. But at 87:25, Akron freshman Matthew Tutich finally broke through, finding the of the back of the net and handing Princeton (1-3 overall) a 1-0 loss.
It was the second straight heartbreaking one-goal loss to a top-10 nationally ranked team for the Tigers. The previous night, Princeton fell 2-1 to No. 7 Farleigh Dickinson (5-0) at Mercer County Community College. The Tigers gave up two early goals and, despite several chances late in the game, could never retie the contest.
Against Akron, however, Princeton played the Zips evenly until Tutich's goal. The Zips' Ross McKenzie crossed the ball on the ground from the left edge of the field to find Tutich, whose shot bounced off the inside of the left goalpost before sinking it in to the right corner.
With the assist, McKenzie redeemed himself for the yellow card he had earned only moments earlier for shouting expletives after a missed opportunity.
In the last 20 minutes of the first half, Akron relied on its speed and endurance to keep the ball in Tiger territory and open up multiple scoring opportunities. Thirteen minutes in, Zips forward Brendan Murphy prepared to take a shot in front of the goal, but Guelich charged out, clearing the ball with his head and sending Murphy to the ground.
Guelich's biggest problem continued to be the aggressive play of Murphy, and with just over 17 minutes remaining in the first half, one of his crosses found its way past Guelich. However, the goal was nullified on an offsides call. About a minute later, Akron put another shot on goal that went wide.
Guelich made numerous exceptional saves in the waning minutes of the first half. In a burst of speed, Zips' forward Geir Nyheim blew past his defender to put a shot on goal, but his attack was stopped when Guelich fell to his knees just in time to stop the ball. Minutes later, Nyheim crossed the ball in front of the goal, but Guelich leapt forward to block it high into the air and then leapt again over another Akron player to catch the ball.
"Bobby has made a big step up from last night," head coach Jim Barlow said.
Guelich's athletic performance kept Princeton in the game, surprising a Zips squad that has a knack for putting the ball through with ease. Guelich did not look like a goalie who spent the past two years backing up starter Erik White '05.
Though Guelich was doing a lot of the work, the Tigers were not without scoring chances either. Early in the first half, sophomore forward Kyle McHugh crossed the ball past two Princeton players to senior midfielder Ben Young. Young tried to loft the ball over goalie Evan Bush into the top right corner, but his scoring chance was unsuccessful. Late in the half, McHugh kicked the ball backwards over his body to senior forward Darren Spicer. Spicer's ensuing cross, however, found only air.
On a subsequent corner kick by junior forward Zack Schwarz, Bush had to leap over senior forward Adrian Melville in order to prevent a sure goal. On another Schwarz corner, the ball actually did make it into the back of the net off the foot of junior midfielder Jame Wunsch, but the goal was called back because a Tiger had collided with the goalie.
Princeton's best opportunity to score came late in the second half, when Spicer had a one-on-one opportunity against Bush. The goalie charged and used his body to block the leg of Spicer, preventing what would have been the equalizing goal.
Early goals
Against Farleigh Dickinson, Princeton fell behind early and spent the entire match playing from behind. Forward Yanni Rome Gosselin scored twice in the first half in a span of less than three and a half minutes, helping the Knights avenge their 2-0 loss from a season before.
The Tigers fought back against FDU early in the second half when Spicer scored on a penalty kick after Young was fouled inside the box. Princeton was unable to find a second goal, though. The day was not without equalizing opportunities for the Tigers. Princeton had 11 corner kick opportunities to knock one in but could not convert on any of them.
Spicer and McHugh each managed two shots on goal, but Spicer's penalty kick was the only successful attempt. The Knights placed six total shots on goal, led by Gosselin's three shots.
Barlow was not upset about losing to two of the nation's elite teams during this weekend's tournament.
"That's why we schedule them," Barlow said.
He remarked that while many teams do not schedule top-25 opponents for non-conference matches, Barlow wants to play against the best.
The Tiges get the chance to rebound against Drexel on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
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