Men's Soccer: Crowd treated to second straight shutout

All season long, the Tigers (3-8-1 overall, 0-1-1 Ivy League) have lacked a killer instinct and struggled to put away teams in the second half. This time, Princeton went right at Rutgers (5-5-3) at the start of the second half and ultimately stormed to a 3-0 shutout victory.

“We were angry at the break,” head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said. “We thought we had played well for 25 minutes, had a 1-0 lead, and then we allowed Rutgers to start taking it to us. We asked the guys, ‘Do you want to win, or do you want just hold on to our 1-0 lead?’ ”

The Tigers proved unwilling to rest on their laurels. Less than two minutes had passed in the second half before Princeton scored its second goal of the night. Freshman midfielder Antoine Hoppenot took an outlet pass and raced up the left side of the field. Hoppenot bought himself a little bit of space and promptly crossed the ball directly past the goalie. Junior midfielder and captain Devin Muntz was there to pick up the ball, and he quickly dumped it off to freshman forward Manny Sardinha, who easily slid the ball past Scarlet Knights goaltender Amir Haghshenas into the bottom left corner of the net.

It didn’t end there, however, as the Tigers continued to attack. Rutgers applied consistent pressure on Princeton’s end as well, but the Tiger defense held fast in posting its first shutout victory of the season. The Scarlet Knights took 15 shots, but only two of them found the net, and senior goaltender Joe Walter was there to make the stops.

Because Rutgers plays such an aggressive style of soccer, Princeton — a team that favors a fast-paced approach itself — had ample opportunities to score. Thankfully for the Tigers, their attackers were right on target, converting three of their four opportunities on net.

“Rutgers really likes to attack,” Barlow said. “There was a little more room for us to play back there.”

Four shots on goal actually fails to do justice to the number of good chances Princeton had. The Tigers used through balls to perfection all night, consistently splitting defenders as Princeton’s attackers were moving in behind them. That passing precision led to a bevy of chances throughout the night.

“We’ve been trying to get the timing right on those passes in that third of the field,” Barlow said.

The timing was immaculate on Wednesday night.

The Tigers scored a third goal late in the second half to seal the victory. Sophomore midfielder Brandon Busch had a beautiful sending pass to Hoppenot, who got matched up one-on-one with Haghshenas. Hoppenot positioned himself at the proper angle and whipped the ball across the goalie to the left side of the goal.

Princeton played a merciless second half, never taking its foot off the gas pedal. That mentality ensured that the Tigers played solid soccer for extended periods of time. As a result, they didn’t come out on the losing end of another closely contested game, a trend that has become tiresome to Princeton.

“We responded well after the first half,” Barlow said. “We came out and definitely established something in the second half.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Tigers’ lone goal in the first half came early on, and it was Hoppenot again who finished the play. The ball was centered to sophomore defender Josh Walburn, who pushed the ball forward to Hoppenot. Hoppenot took full advantage, rocketing a shot past Haghshenas to draw first blood.

Not only did Princeton play one of its best all-around games of the season, it also managed to decisively end an 11-game losing streak against the Scarlet Knights.

The victory against Rutgers brings the Tigers’ non-conference schedule to a close. Princeton will try to maintain momentum Saturday night when it heads to Columbia (3-6-1, 1-1-0) in an effort to claim its first Ivy League victory of the season.