Eagles soar into Roberts Stadium

But some things are different. For one thing, the Tigers can boast about their impressive home-field advantage. Construction is complete on the brand-new multi-million-dollar complex that Princeton now calls home, and the stadium is already drawing new supporters to the program. While soccer games brought in an average of 315 people per game in 2007, 638 fans attended the 2008 season opener. The fans — and the team’s — enthusiasm over Roberts Stadium cannot be ignored as a significant factor.

“We just want to get some wins under our belt in this new stadium,” sophomore forward Brandon Busch said. “All of us had our heads down a little bit because we lost our home opener. It’s not like we didn’t play well, but we know everyone came out to support us, and it can be kind of hard to support a team that doesn’t post the wins.”

A win over American (2-2) won’t be easy to accomplish. The Eagles are fresh from the Duke/Nike Classic, where they faced several tough ACC opponents. After a 3-0 victory over N.C. State, American lost to Duke, the eventual tournament champion.

The Eagles are “one of the best possession teams” that Princeton will play this season, head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said.

“American is always a good test because they move the ball so well,” Barlow said. “They get the ball moving really quickly, so if you get caught ball-watching or if you are slow to react defensively, you can be in big trouble.”

After the Tigers’ season-opening loss to Lehigh, the team knows what it needs to work on to counteract the Eagles’ cohesive movements on the field.

“Defensively, we were pretty solid in the first game,” Barlow said. “I think trying to be a little more in-synch in the [offense] is something we can improve on.”

Busch, who scored Princeton’s only goal against Lehigh, agreed that the Tigers’ troubles lie in the finishing touches.

“We’re focusing on putting our chances away earlier,” Busch said. “We just need to work more on finishing. That might be our biggest weakness right now.”

In its first four games, American has outscored its opponents by a two-to-one margin. The team has averaged 13.5 shots per game, and midfielders David Menzie and Anthony Moy lead the Eagles’ offense with two goals apiece.

Though it is early in Princeton’s season, the men seem to be meshing well as a team.

“We’re a really close team, so that should show on the field,” Busch said. “We have each other’s backs.”

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Busch includes the new freshmen as valuable assets to the roster. Led by junior captain Devin Muntz, the Tigers have welcomed six new faces to the team this fall. Out of those six, four freshmen saw playing time in the season opener.

“We have a pretty athletic and attacking-minded group of freshmen,” Barlow said. “A bunch of them have challenged for spots.”

This new blood might help the Tigers get past last weekend’s — and last season’s — frustration. The team, no stranger to disappointment, suffered six-straight close defeats last season before finding its first win midseason. With the help of these fresh faces, Princeton hopes to start the winning trend earlier this fall.

“We go one game at a time and try to get a result in each match and try and set the tone for the season,” Barlow said. “We just have to look forward now.”