Princeton (1-2) got off to a sluggish start against American. It seemed the Tigers would be able to hold off the Eagles before the half, as senior goalkeeper Joe Walter deflected a shot that ricocheted off the post in the 34th minute and made another save four minutes later. But American forward Daniel Shannon broke the stalemate when he finished a rebound with just under two minutes to go, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
“It was really deflating,” head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said of the goal. “But at the same time, we had it coming because of how we were playing. We were flat, we weren’t jumping on loose balls, [and] we weren’t first to get into spots.”
Finding a sense of urgency in the second half, Princeton’s offense began to create attacking opportunities. Junior midfielder and captain Devin Muntz appeared to have tied the game at one just seven minutes into the half, but the Tigers were denied the goal due to an offsides call.
Shannon gave his team a two-goal lead in the 67th minute when his shot slid through Walter’s hands. Yet less than 10 minutes later, sophomore midfielder Teddy Schneider found an answer to the Eagles. Schneider connected with sophomore forward Brandon Busch on the left flank and sent the ball across the box to junior midfielder Ben Harms. Harms headed the ball toward Schneider, whose picture-perfect finish put the Tigers within one.
Schneider had a chance to send the game into overtime in the final minute, but his attempt sailed above the crossbar, and the Tigers fell, 2-1.
Though the Tigers showed energy and passion in the game’s closing moments, they needed to play with the same mentality and commitment for a full 90 minutes.
“It just [comes down] to intensity and being able to stay connected as a team, just to play with heart,” Schneider said.
Heart, however, was one thing the Tigers never lacked in their 3-1 win Sunday afternoon. From the opening moments of the match against Seton Hall, it was clear that Princeton controlled the pace and energy level of the game.
The Tigers had a flurry of chances near the net in the first five minutes. Freshman forward Antoine Hoppenot had a series of opportunities but failed to put the Tigers on the board.
Twenty minutes later, Hoppenot found himself on the doorstep again after receiving a pass from senior midfielder Jason Adams, but a Seton Hall defender was in perfect position to protect his goal line and hold the Tigers scoreless.
Arguably the best chance of the first half occurred with eight minutes to go, as senior midfielder Brian Brady spotted junior midfielder Nate Krinsky in front of the Pirates’ goal 40 yards ahead. Brady sent a Beckham-esque, left-footed curving cross to the spot, but Krinsky’s header was just shy of slipping under the crossbar.
Senior midfielder Brad Fechter capitalized on a chance in the 60th minute to finally give Princeton a much-deserved lead. Busch created the opportunity when he lofted a pass across the field to a wide-open Fechter, who buried the ball in the left corner of the net behind Seton Hall goalkeeper Sean Carr.
Forward Marko Ciklic evened the score seven minutes later on arguably the Pirates’ only quality opportunity of the match, when his shot slipped between sophomore goalie Sean Lynch’s outstretched arms and the crossbar.
Yet the Tigers managed to take the wind out of the Pirates’ sails just one minute, 13 seconds later, when Princeton was awarded a free kick outside the 18-yard box. Muntz served up a perfectly lofted pass, and sophomore defender Josh Walburn rose above the Seton Hall defenders to flick the ball into the net, allowing Princeton to regain the lead.
With a hair under 15 minutes to go, Schneider tallied his second goal of the weekend on a left-footed chip, putting the game out of reach for the Pirates.
The Tigers will look to maintain the momentum they created in the closing minutes against American and continued through the match against Seton Hall as they travel to Chicago next week to face two top-20 teams in Northwestern and the University of Illinois-Chicago.
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