Tigers tame American but fall to Loyola

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After a neck-and-neck first half, men's soccer needed some kind of spark to edge past the small but aggressive American team. Head coach Jim Barlow '91 found one on his bench, substituting in sophomore midfielder Ted Wolfson 17 minutes, 33 seconds into the second half.

After fewer than four minutes on the field, Wolfson turned, sprinted and slid to the ground to keep a ball from barreling out on the left sideline in Eagle territory. In his sliding attempt, he managed to strike a floating pass toward the left side of the goal. Several passes later, Wolfson regained control of the ball and made a short cross to senior forward Adrian Melville, right in front of the goal. Recovering a deflected low shot, Melville found the lower left corner of the net, giving Princeton the one-goal edge it needed to claim the victory.

That goal, Melville's second of the day, earned the Tigers (1-1-0 overall) their first win of the season, 2-1, at the expense of American (0-2-1) on Sept. 9. The win followed a disappointing 2-1 loss in Princeton's home opener on Sept. 2 against Loyola.

Success did not come easily against the Eagles. For much of the game, the two teams fought to a stalemate of strong attacks followed by matched counterattacks.

After American's opening possession into the sun, the Tigers made the first threatening shot at 5:30 p.m. when senior forward Darren Spicer beat his defender and forced goalie Chris Sedlak to charge out of the net, but Spicer's high floating shot clanked off the right post. Princeton threatened again just a few seconds later when sophomore forward Kyle McHugh hit a low shot that Sedlak snatched up on a diving save. First blood came after a series of Tiger attacks when Melville found the back of the net to score his first goal at 13:18, nutmegging Sedlak after an assist from senior midfielder Alex Reison.

Princeton's celebration was limited to just 41 seconds. The Eagles' Larry Marks sprinted down the field just a few seconds after kickoff, being careful to stay onside. He received the ball from teammate Garth Juckem and put a low shot past senior goalie Bobby Guelich. American continued to threaten for the remainder of the first half with seven corner kicks, all taken by Juckem, compared to the Tigers' zero.

Princeton found its stride in the second half, threatening almost immediately at 46:10 with a corner kick by McHugh. McHugh pummeled the Eagles' goal with five corner kicks of his own and two shots in the second half. Melville was finally able to convert, scoring his second goal of the game off the assist from Wolfson. American could not respond, hitting some high and wide shots and forcing Guelich to make just one save after the second Tiger goal.

Though Melville has scored all three Princeton goals so far this season, he credited his teammates for their strong play in setting up his attacking shots. Melville mentioned Spicer and McHugh specifically for helping him find the back of the net during the game against the Eagles.

"We had a whole week to practice, a whole week to prepare for [American], so we really made sure that we were ready to play," Melville said. "We just decided that this was a must-win game, so everyone basically stepped up."

Tough opening loss

The win against American was even more important after the Tigers' disappointing 2-1 loss to Loyola in their season opener at Lourie-Love Field on Sept. 2.

With just seven minutes to go in the first half, the Greyhounds notched the first goal of the game in a converted play off a Princeton foul. Loyola's Gabe Ortega put a lengthy pass up the left side of the field to Vinnie Piscopo. After boxing out his defender, Piscopo received the ball, took two steps and blasted a left-footed shot that ricocheted off the tips of Guelich's fingers and into the top right corner of the net.

After some good chances and shots in the second half, Melville scored with 10:55 left to play after a hustling Spicer crossed the ball in to him. As with the American game, however, a strong counterattack followed, again at Princeton's expense. Just 89 seconds later, the Greyhound's Brian O'Connor notched an unassisted goal.

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The Tigers made some necessary adjustments after the Loyola game, though, gaining a more determined mindset and fostering more team solidarity.

"I thought we got out-competed against Loyola," Barlow said. "On our home field in our opener, we let a team win more loose balls and more 50-50 balls, and I thought we got stretched out and didn't really compete as a unit."

Barlow praised his team for their cohesiveness in the American game, saying the second half against the Eagles was Princeton's best so far this season. He stressed that the Tigers' offensive diversity contributed, and will continue to contribute, to their success. With Wolfson and Reison driving up the middle, McHugh and senior midfielder Ben Young have the space to flank the sides. Spicer and Melville round up the attack by finishing plays in front of the net.

With their offensive game plan in tow, Melville and his Princeton teammates will return to action Friday against Akron at Lourie-Love Field.