Men's soccer ties pair

This weekend's play put the men's soccer team exactly where it didn't want to be three games into the Ivy League season — in a rut.

With two disappointing 1-1 ties against Harvard (4-6-2 overall, 0-3-1 Ivy League) on the road Saturday and then against Northwestern (8-4-2) at home Sunday, the Tigers (3-6-3, 0-2-1) are still looking for a jumpstart and a much-needed win.

Both Princeton and the Crimson entered Saturday's game in the same position, in fact, looking to turn around rather dismal Ivy League seasons. But 110 grueling minutes of play later, both teams still had goose eggs in their Ivy win column

The Crimson notched the first goal of the game just a few minutes into the second half in fraternal fashion. Harvard's Nick Toraritis knocked the ball to Jeremy Tchou, who then crossed it to Nick's twin brother, Tony, who found the back of the net on a far-post shot.

Princeton trailed the Crimson for the next 20 minutes until Spicer added to his team-leading scoring status by heading in his fifth goal of the season off a left-side floating pass from fellow senior Ben Young.

With both teams eager for a much-needed win, each squad managed a futile last attempt at a game-winning goal as the clock wound down. With three minutes to go, junior forward Zach Schwarz squelched a seemingly sure score by Harvard, and then the Crimson's Will Craig returned the favor and slide-tackled away the Tigers' final promising drive with a minute left.

Both teams pummeled the goal throughout the game, with Princeton hitting 15 shots to Harvard's 13. These shots led to six saves for Guelich and seven for the Crimson's keeper Ryan Johnson. Battle of big cats

The following day at home, the Tigers found themselves in another evenly matched battle. Northwestern and both Princeton managed 14 shots — and just one goal.

It was the Tigers, though, who first converted with a goal nine minutes, five seconds into the game. Senior defender Neil Chaudhuri broke up Wildcat Daniel Chille's run down the left side seven minutes into the half and thus prevented a service into the box. Princeton then used this stop as momentum to drive the ball the other way — sophomore forward Kyle McHugh hit a high ball which was driven high of the Wildcats' goal by Spicer less than 30 seconds later. Sophomore defender Robbie Morgenroth kept the Tigers' drive alive with a strong tackle at half field. A series of clean, quick passes for the next few minutes eventually earned a Princeton corner kick, taken by McHugh.

Senior defender Jame Wunsch, who awaited the service on the post, headed the ball just inside the left post for his first tally of the season and the game's first goal.

Throughout the first half, the Tigers relied on the defense for support, including the physical presence of Morgenroth. Chaudhuri consistently made strong punches and services from the other side of the Princeton defense into Northwestern territory, starting several Tiger drives.

"To have to go to overtime on back-to-back days, it's amazing that some of them are still even standing," head coach Jim Barlow '91 said. "Robbie didn't play that much yesterday, so we knew he'd be a little fresher than a lot of the guys. I thought he did a really job plugging holes and winning balls and competing in that defensive midfield spot." Princeton gains control

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Toward the middle of the first half, the play tempo was back and forth until Princeton took control of the last several minutes of the half. The Tigers took advantage of a sluggish Wildcat defense by working the ball with well-placed passes, patiently waiting to attack the goal until a good opportunity arose.

With just over three minutes to go in the first half, Princeton managed its best attempt of the game as Chaudhuri hit the ball to Morgenroth, whose blazing high shot was tipped just over the cross bar by Northwestern's keeper.

After some back-and-forth play in the early second half, the Tigers began to regain control, with Wunsch anchoring the Princeton defense and Spicer piloting the attack. Spicer and McHugh counterattacked a threatening Wildcat free kick play halfway through the half.

Spicer found McHugh with Northwestern's goalie severely out of position, and McHugh punched the ball into the back of the net at 69:37. An immediate whistle for offsides, however, snatched away the potential game-winning goal from the Tigers.

Just a few minutes later, a defensive mishap snapped Princeton's control and took away its lead. The Wildcats' Gerardo Alvarez, taking a free kick just outside the box, struck a clean far-post shot around the Tigers' five-man wall, tying the game at 76:10.

"[Leading up to that free kick], we didn't get the ball forward quickly enough," Barlow said. "Neil tried playing it back to [junior midfield] Jame [Wunsch]; I don't think Jame was expecting it and was backpedaling. And so he hesitated, and he didn't quite clear it, and then they were in behind us and the foul was called ... At that point, I didn't think we were under too much pressure. I thought we had a hold of the game at that point, and then one play got away from us." No golden goal

In the two 10-minute overtime periods that ensued, only one total save was necessary. Princeton's last-ditch effort came at 107:32 as Spicer knocked a free kick toward the goal. The Northwestern wall, however, prevented the ball's penetration and Princeton's chances of reclaiming the lead.

With a week of rest to recover from 220 minutes of action this weekend, the Tigers need to have a must-win attitude heading into their next game, a Saturday contest against Cornell. Princeton desperately needs a victory to keep the possibility of Ivy League success alive with just five games to go.