McHugh scores twice as men roll over Columbia

Freshman midfielder Teddy Schneider chased a long ball into the Columbia box, sliding after the ball as the Lion goalie made the save. As the goalie punted the ball back into play, Schneider rolled over a few times on the grass and immediately sprang back into action.

Though this series of events had little consequence in the men's soccer team's 2-0 win over Columbia (2-7-1 overall, 0-2-0 Ivy League) on Saturday afternoon, it exemplified the Tigers' spirit in the first half of this challenging season. After starting the season 0-6-0, Princeton (3-7-1, 1-1-0) has faced many setbacks but has responded with confidence, picking itself up to turn the season around in time for Ivy competition.

With the victory, the Tigers seem to be headed in the right direction.

"This was the best 90 minutes we've probably had all together," senior captain and forward Kyle McHugh said.

McHugh played a particularly significant role in this matchup, scoring both goals for the Tigers. The first goal came in the last minute of the first half, after freshman forward Brandon Busch passed to McHugh, who finessed the ball into the back of the net.

With Princeton still clinging to a 1-0 lead and less than 10 minutes left on the game clock, sophomore midfielder Devin Muntz teased the crowd with a shot that hit the Princeton Stadium football goalposts and ricocheted onto the back side of the net. The rustle of the net made it look like a Princeton goal, but it was only a close call.

The crowd didn't have to wait long for a real goal, though. A little over five minutes after Muntz's near miss, sophomore forward Ben Harms sent the ball over Columbia's back line, where Muntz quickly retrieved the pass. Catching the Lion defenders off guard, both Muntz and McHugh sprinted to the goal, creating a two-on-one situation with Columbia's goalie. Muntz crossed the ball to McHugh, who tapped the ball in for his second goal of the game.

"I think the key for us was getting the ball moving," Muntz said. "Their backs had a lot of trouble with us and our speed of play, especially."

The Lions not only had difficulty protecting the goal in the backfield, but their offense also struggled to make any real threats on the Tigers' side of the field. Columbia had only two shots on goal, both coming during the first half. Princeton ended the match with nearly four times more shots than Columbia.

The game was marked by fouls and free kicks. There was an average of almost one foul for every two minutes of play, as the Lions picked up 22 fouls and the Tigers committed 20.

The Princeton crowd enjoyed heckling the Columbia players, yelling "and the award goes to..." and "part-time actor" at the Lion players when they dramatically played up a foul. Such aggression also highlighted the rough play of both teams.

"They have some big bodies," McHugh said. "You've got to be willing to throw yourself in there to make it happen."

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Despite Columbia's best efforts, Princeton did make it happen, though the team is quick not to downplay the Lions' tenacity.

"They gave it their all," senior captain and defender Matt Kontos said. "We never thought that they were going to give up, and they were a good team. I think today we just played a little bit harder and got the result ... I [take] my hat off to them, and I thought that they played really well."

Saturday's success marked an important moment for the Tigers in their attempted turnaround, as they grabbed their first Ivy win of the season. Princeton was coming off a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to Brown, so this victory meant a lot for the Tigers' momentum.

"We had a real rough one last weekend," McHugh said. "If we win the rest of our Ivy games — and there's no reason to think we can't — we're going to be right there in the thick of it. We're really psyched. It's great to get this one and feel like we can get on a roll now and get the Ivy championship, hopefully."

The key to the team's confidence seems to lie in focusing on the future.

"I think we can definitely win the Ivy League," Kontos said. "Our past record means nothing. All that matters is our next six games coming up. We definitely believe that we can still win it."