Tigers tie Scarlet Knights

One clean touch of the ball was all Rutgers (2-6-1) needed to take away the trophy the men's soccer team (3-3-1) so longed for — an overdue victory over the Scarlet Knights.

Trailing by a goal for much of the second half last night at Lourie-Love Field, Rutgers was thirsty for a score as the game ticked toward its conclusion. In the 86th minute, senior Scott Gahagan pushed and hustled his way into the box, managing several touches on the ball after a cross from teammate Alieu Terry. Gahagan's physical play induced a Princeton foul in the box, earning a direct penalty kick. Nick LaBrocca put the free shot away with a cleanly placed low, right kick to knot the game at 1-1.

When neither squad could score in the 20 minutes of sudden death overtime, the game ended in a 1-1 tie, extending Princeton's winless streak against Rutgers to 11 years.

McHugh strikes first

After a scoreless first half, both teams came out of their halftime huddles with increased vigor. Less than one minute into the half, Rutgers' Bojan Skoric took a shot off a pass from Lyonnais, force a diving save by senior goalie Bobby Guelich. Senior forward Darren Spicer, Princeton's second leading scorer and reigning Ivy League player of the week, countered the attack a little over a minute later with a near post zinger which just missed.

Yet it was ten minutes later that Princeton finally found the back of the net off a corner kick from junior forward Zach Schwarz, at 57:42. Freshman Pat Farrell kept the play with an arching header in the box, which was pushed out to sophomore forward Kyle McHugh. McHugh scored on a high shot, his first goal on the season.

Rutgers found an offensive spark toward the end of the second half, firing shots and forcing a bobbling save from Guelich with less than ten minutes to play. Rutgers' determined drives were rewarded with the converted penalty kick at 85:15.

With the clock winding down into the final minute of regulation, Princeton tried to reclaim its lead, nearly scoring when senior Neil Chaudauri hit a high ball which Spicer headed just wide.

The stalemate moved the teams to a ten minute sudden death overtime period. Rutgers pummeled Princeton's goal with a vengeance, especially in the final two minutes, knocking six shots in just ten minutes. But Guelich stood tall in the goal, making several tough stops.

In a tired deadlock, neither team could even manage a shot in the second ten minute overtime period. Princeton had two corners in the final three minutes, but was able to convert on either.

Slow start

In truth, the game ended much as it began, with few strong offensive opportunities. Throughout the first twenty minutes of the first half, the teams traded unthreatening shuffles and counter shuffles. Well-played offensive drives were scarce.

In the 17th minute, Rutgers' Chris Moore tried to singlehandedly create a scoring opportunity, pushing the ball across the field in front of the Princeton goal. But Guelich aggressively pounced on the ball inside the box on the left side of the field, killing the Scarlet Knights' scoring chance. Guelich finished with eight saves on the night.

Princeton's best offensive opportunity of the first half came in the 20th minute, when senior defender Marc DuBois initiated a drive with a head flick to McHugh. An ensuing pass from senior midfielder Ben Young found the foot of senior midfielder Alex Reison, resulting in a high, missed shot.

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Rutgers had a good look three minutes before the half, after Guelich found himself out of position. Under defensive pressure, though, Rutgers' Joe Lyonnais fired high.

Ultimately, neither team was quite crisp enough to take advantage of its multiple opportunities, leaving both teams wondering what could have been.

And so the Tigers, who hold a 25-17-9 edge all-time versus the Scarlet Knights, will have to wait until next year to try and reassert their winning ways in the rivalry.