Men's Soccer: Squad goes 1-1 at Princeton Tournament

After an exciting 3-0 start to the season, the men’s soccer team completed its first home weekend, splitting four games at the Princeton Tournament. On Friday, Princeton recorded a 2-1 double-overtime win against Fairleigh Dickinson, but on Sunday, the Tigers were handed their first loss of the season in a 1-0 decision against Monmouth.

In an impressive and exciting mix of luck and perseverance, Princeton (4-1) edged out Farleigh Dickinson (2-1) after junior midfielder Teddy Schneider converted on a penalty kick with 0.8 seconds left in double overtime.

“It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” senior midfielder and captain Devin Muntz said. “[Teddy] has really sure feet. We were looking for someone with a lot of confidence. It was really obvious that he would put it away.”

The first half of the game was scoreless and evenly played by both teams. While there were serious threats on both sides of the field, the first goal of the game came from junior midfielder Josh Walburn just seconds into the second half.

Walburn’s fifth goal of the season put the Tigers up 1-0, and senior forward Ben Harms almost extended that Princeton lead with a shot that sailed just over the crossbar 10 minutes later.

Fairleigh Dickinson responded with a series of close shots — a pair above the crossbar, one bouncing off it and one saved by junior goalkeeper Sean Lynch — but the game really heated up in the final minutes.

With the Knights playing a man down after a red card, Princeton earned a two-on-one opportunity against Farleigh Dickinson goalie Moydi Zainch.

After an assist from sophomore midfielder Colby Hahn, freshman forward Matt Sanner fired a shot that deflected off the left sidebar. But Fairleigh Dickinson answered, and midfielder Dominic Reinold scored on a thrilling on-the-ground back kick with 25 seconds left in regulation.

After a foul-filled overtime, the Tigers thrived off the home crowd’s energy, remaining even with the Knights until the final moments.

“It was great to have that many fans out there — getting on the other team and supporting us,” Muntz said. “It gave us an extra man during that second overtime.”

Princeton continued the last-minute excitement with Schneider’s game-winning penalty kick. For a team that was 0-2-3 in overtime last season, this toughness under pressure is a relatively new phenomenon.

“With another team, that goal with 25 seconds left would’ve been the end,” Muntz said. “It shows something about our character as a team and how we’re willing to get it together … This year, we fought back. We have great team chemistry. We kept fighting, and that’s a good quality for a team.”

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The Tigers outshot the Knights 18-13, and Fairleigh Dickinson picked up 19 fouls to Princeton’s 14. Eight of the Knights’ fouls were recorded in overtime, including the fateful foul that led to Schneider’s game-winning penalty shot.

Princeton was less successful against Monmouth (7-0), a team that came into the tournament ranked as high as 19th in the Soccer America poll. The Hawks scored in the fifth minute of the game, and held that margin for the rest of the game, finishing with a 1-0 victory.

“With the second game in a tournament weekend like this, it’s going to make your legs a little heavy, and it’s hard to have the same energy,” Muntz said.

Monmouth scored off a Tiger corner kick gone awry, as forward Ryan Kinne stole the ball, and sent it downfield to forward Drew Mu Von Bargen with a shot on goal.

Despite an ensuing attempt by Sanner and four subsequent shots by Monmouth during the next five minutes, neither team managed to score.

Princeton dominated the second half and outshot Monmouth, 15-12. During the last 15 minutes, the Tigers sent six shots unsuccessfully toward the net. They also nearly doubled the Hawks on corner kicks but never succeeded to even the score.

“We brought the energy in the second half, but it’s hard to make it happen, especially against a good team like Monmouth,” Muntz said. “We need to work on getting our little plays right. I think it’s a good lesson to learn — we were in the game today, and we could’ve won without a couple of mistakes. We’ll work on cleaning those up and getting the results next weekend.”

Princeton, which has received a handful of votes in last week’s national polls, will fly across the country at the end of the week to face tough California teams in No. 17 UC Irvine and San Diego State at the Nike Aztec Soccer Classic. Upon their return, the Tigers will open their Ivy League season against No. 10 Dartmouth.