Men's Soccer: No California love in winless trip out West

After starting its season 4-0, the men’s soccer team has dropped its past three games, including two this last weekend against No. 23 UC-Irvine (6-2-0) and San Diego State (6-2-2). To add insult to injury, both games were closely contested matches that the Tigers lost by single-goal margins.

In the UC-Irvine game, it was Princeton that drew first blood with a well-placed 30-foot goal from junior defender Josh Walburn, his team-leading sixth of the season.

“[Senior midfielder and captain] Devin Muntz played a perfect cross in off of a free kick, and [sophomore midfielder] Antoine Hoppenot set a pick on my man,” Walburn said. “I was wide open in front of the goal and just had to tap it in with my head.”

Princeton was outshot 7-4 in the period and also gave up 10 corners, but solid play by the defense and four saves from junior goalkeeper Sean Lynch enabled the Tigers to hold their lead heading into halftime.

Lynch believes that his team can learn a lot from the weekend play in California.

“We obviously didn’t have the best weekend, but there are a lot of things to take away from this weekend,” Lynch said. “It’s clear that we can compete with some of the best teams in the country, giving highly ranked [UC-Irvine] a run for their money and losing a tight game to [San Diego State]. I think we can do a better job creating and finishing chances in the offensive third, but the season is still relatively young, and our offensive creativity and finishing will only get better.”

UC-Irvine came out quickly in the second period, scoring a 61-footer on a counterattack and a 68-footer on a powerful shot to the upper right hand corner, out of Lynch’s reach. Despite Princeton’s best efforts, with the Tigers outshooting the Anteaters 10-6 in the second period, the game ended 2-1 in favor of the opposition.

Princeton had lost the previous week’s game to No. 14 Monmouth 1-0, and the team was looking to break its first losing streak of the season with a win against unranked San Diego State.The match was close in many respects, with both teams taking 11 shots and five corners each.

But it was the Aztecs that would come out on top, with a 1-0 win.

In the first half, the Tigers’ defense played well, denying their opponents any real scoring chances and allowing zero shots.

Freshman striker Matt Sanner had a header toward goal in the 24th minute but was denied by Aztec goalkeeper Brad Byrns. Walburn had a shot in the 30th minute that ended up in Byrns’ arms as well.

The final opportunity of the half came via a blistering shot by freshman defender Mark Linnville that San Diego State also managed to stop.

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The Aztecs scored 10 minutes into the second half by way of a second-chance opportunity. Lynch blocked the initial shot but could not prevent the ball from rebounding onto the field, and a San Diego State player blasted the ball into the back of the net.

The Aztecs had an opportunity to extend their lead in the 65th minute, but were unable to do so, thanks to a good play by Linnville.

“Obviously the San Diego State game was frustrating for us,” Muntz said. “We feel that the game was pretty even except for the fact that we were unable to find a way to score. They are a good team, but they were beatable, and we feel we let one slip away from us. We were able to defend better as a team, but seemingly as a consequence, our number of good attacking chances was limited.”

The Tigers must now find a way to rebound from their recent losses, because Ivy League play is next. The slate of games begins with an away game against Dartmouth (4-2-1) this Saturday.

Princeton will have to beat a team that had a share of last year’s championship to take the first step toward its title aspirations.

“After coming off a disappointing weekend, I think it’s important to put it behind us, learn from it and grow as a team,” Lynch said. “It’s time to start focusing on the Ivy League.”