'Frustrating' season enters home stretch against Big Red, Quakers

As the men's soccer team looks to push past .500 in the Ivy League, the importance of each individual match rises, and the Tigers appreciate each additional minute they can spend focusing on the game.

"[Fall Break] is much more soccer and much less school," senior captain and forward Kyle McHugh said in an email. "It is a great time to concentrate on soccer and really get prepared for some of these final games."

Princeton (3-8-2 overall, 1-2-0 Ivy League) has four games left in the regular season, two of which will occur over the break. Tomorrow, the Tigers will face Cornell (5-6-1, 0-2-1) at Princeton Stadium. A week later — during the same afternoon their football teams battle across campus — Princeton will travel to Philadelphia to take on Penn (5-6-2, 2-1-0).

Cornell has yet to win a league game this season, but it still poses a threat in the midfield with standout players Brian Kuritzky and Joe Yonga.

"[They are] a team that moves the ball really well," head coach Jim Barlow '91 said. "[Cornell] is capable of stretches where they put a lot of good plays together, and then they have a couple of guys that are a real handful."

Penn has seen a little more success within the Ivy League, defeating both Columbia and Yale, but losing to Dartmouth. Barlow credits their patience and their ability to maintain possession of the ball. The Quakers also boast a strong midfield controlled by Alex Grendi and Derek Hobson — two second team All-Ivy picks in 2006.

Princeton hopes to find a win this weekend after a frustrating string of games. The Tigers tied St. John's and suffered one-goal losses at No. 13 Harvard and No. 6 Brown. Barlow and McHugh see "finishing the game" as the key to reversing the pattern.

"We've had leads [against Harvard and Brown] and didn't get the job done," Barlow said. "I think our guys are really frustrated because they feel like we've played well enough to win both of those games but didn't get the job done. I think it comes to having confidence when other teams throw the kitchen sink at you."

McHugh echoed his coach and called for more persistence on the field.

"Too many times we will get a one-goal lead on teams and be content," McHugh said. "We need to make sure we get the second and third goals and put teams away while we have the chance. We don't have to make it a dog fight for the last 30 minutes."

Besides offense, the Tigers must also focus on defense. The goalkeeping position has rotated a bit this season, with junior keeper Joe Walters out with an injury after starting the first four games. Freshman Sean Lynch stepped in for the Stanford game and earned a lot of respect for his play in the next several games. A groin injury, however, began to nag him during the St. John's game, giving Walters a chance to step back in and regain his starting position.

"At this point, they are both great goalies and will continue to push each other for the starting spot," McHugh said. "They will only make each other better."

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With two solid goalkeepers and a team eager to prove themselves, these last four Ivy games will provide a final chance for Princeton to bounce back and bolster its league record.

"These final four games will reveal a lot about the character of the team, which I know is special," McHugh said.

It is uncertain whether these final matchups will change Princeton's chances for the post-season. Brown — who holds a 3-0-0 record in league play — sits atop the Ivy rankings. Dartmouth is just below with two wins and a tie. For Princeton to reach the postseason, the favorites would have to be upset, but with such a talented league, it is not impossible. The Tigers plan to keep their eyes on one game at a time and not get caught up in what ifs.

"Right now, all we're trying to focus on is each game and taking the next step as a team," Barlow said. "We know we're much better than our record, which is frustrating to all of us, but we know we still have four games to do something about it."