Unassisted Busch goal not enough in home opener

Moments later, freshman forward Zach Wyzgokski sent a header toward the Lehigh net that would have brought Princeton fans to their feet and sent the game into overtime, but the attempt sailed just wide, and the Tigers fell 2-1 in their inaugural match at Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium. Lehigh improved to 3-0 with the win.

The Tigers knew going in their season-opener wouldn’t be an easy contest.

“We’ve seen Lehigh a couple times,” head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said, “and we expected it to be a really hard game. They’re very hard to score on — they’re organized defensively and they’re big and athletic. We knew we would have our hands full.”

Though the Mountain Hawks tallied three more shots than the Tigers, Princeton seemed to have control of the majority of the match. The Tigers worked the ball through the midfield to create solid attacking opportunities, but they struggled to capitalize on those chances. Finding a way to be the first on the scoreboard — something the Tigers struggled with last season — will be a goal for them this year.

“I’m much more concerned about finishing earlier in the game,” Barlow said. “When you’re down and you’re throwing all caution to the wind and everyone’s fighting to get a goal, you might get some there, but it’d be nice if the other team had to do that because we had finished our chances earlier in the game where we had established control of the game.”

Controlling most of the first half, the Tigers looked especially dangerous during a few stretches. One of the Tigers’ best chances of the match happened in the 28th minute, when junior midfielder and captain Devin Muntz sent a slick heel pass to junior forward Ben Harms. Harms collected the pass and carried the ball to the end line, sending a cross in front of the goalmouth, where freshman forward Antoine Hoppenot was just a step late from tallying his first collegiate goal.

Senior midfielder Brad Fechter created quite a few opportunities for himself during the first half as well. In the 13th minute, he sailed a shot above the Mountain Hawk goal after carrying the ball over half the length of the field, and he challenged Lehigh goalie Jonathan Nydell again in the 29th minute.

The Tigers were encouraged by these chances, especially after struggling last season to create quality scoring opportunities in their offensive end.

“Last year we would get deep in [the opponent’s] end and not ever get a chance,” Muntz said. “We were at least getting shots on goal and testing [Lehigh] a little bit. We just need to put a few more away early and it will be a totally different game.”

The Mountain Hawks spoiled the momentum the Tigers hoped to maintain throughout the second half when Mark Dangelis lofted a 20-yard pass to Jim Taranto, whose header slipped inside the left post past senior goalie Joe Walter at 52:54.

The Tigers nearly got the equalizer 10 minutes after the Mountain Hawks struck. Harms collected a pass from Muntz outside the 18-yard box and crossed the ball to Fechter, whose header bounced just wide of the mark.

Princeton had a flurry of chances to find the tying goal around the 76th minute with shots by sophomore midfielder Teddy Schneider, Hoppenot and Fechter, but the Tigers were unable to convert. Seven minutes later, Lehigh found the net a second time on a goal from Kyle Evans.

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Busch’s goal followed five minutes later, but time expired before the Tigers could find the goal again.

Despite the loss, the Tigers were encouraged by their first performance and hope to come away with a win this Friday when they face American at Roberts Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Muntz said. “We played a competitive game against a team that has played a couple already. It’s a good start for us — the best it could be for a loss — and is something we could build on from here.”