Men's Soccer: After 1-1 tie, Tigers seek needed win

With nearly two thirds of its season already completed, the men’s soccer team has reached an important crossroads. After a stunning opening set of four consecutive victories, which pushed it into consideration for a national ranking, Princeton (4-5-2 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) has now gone seven games without a win. But coming off several encouraging performances, the Tigers’ luck may just be about to turn.

Despite not adding to its win column over the past few games, Princeton has really improved. Having outplayed St John’s, which was ranked first in preseason polls, in a frustrating 1-1 double overtime draw Wednesday night, the Tigers seem positive about their upcoming schedule.

“We feel we played one of our best games against a very talented St. John’s team,” head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said. “Despite our recent stretch of tough results, we are playing with confidence right now.”

It is fortunate that Princeton’s next six games will decide the fate of its season. Only one game is a non-conference matchup, so the Tigers still have the chance to recapture their early season success and propel themselves to a postseason berth.

“We know that we are still in control of our own destiny, but we have to find a way to get wins,” freshman central defender Mark Linville said.

Standing first in the way of a Princeton resurgence is Columbia (3-5-1, 1-1), whom the Tigers face on Saturday afternoon at Roberts Stadium.

The Lions will provide a good test for Princeton, as both teams are in similar positions. Columbia has suffered close losses to four ranked opponents, including Ivy League contender Brown.

Last Saturday, Columbia snapped a two-game winless streak with a 1-0 Ivy League victory against Penn. The game was decided by an 80th-minute penalty, but the real story was the Lions’ dominating defense.

Goalkeeper Alexander Aurrichio made five saves in claiming his first shutout of the season, and the central defensive pairing of Peppe Carotenuto and Brendan O’Hearn blunted Penn’s attack.

On offense, striker Bayo Adafin appears to be the danger man, as he leads the Lions with four goals, three of which have come in just the past four games. Adafin stands at only five feet, eight inches tall, so Princeton’s defense should expect plenty of speed and trickery, rather than the power game it faced from St. John’s strikers.

Princeton has defeated Columbia in its past two contests, but the Tigers are by no means expecting an easy victory.

Barlow seems impressed with the Lions’ performance so far this season, and he is warning his team against complacency on Saturday.

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“Columbia is off to a good start in the Ivy League with an impressive win against Penn last weekend and an overtime loss to Brown while playing a man down,” Barlow said.

“We know they are a good, solid, organized team with speed and athleticism, and it will be another tough game. We need to be at our best.”

The team seems to be just beginning to work out what its best is, and junior defender Ben Burton was very clear when asked about what Princeton needed to work on.

“One of the things that we need to improve on is scoring first in our games in order to take some of the pressure off our defense,” Burton said after the St. John’s game, in which the Tigers conceded a goal in just the third minute of play.

Mostly, though, it seems that the team just wants to rediscover that winning feeling. The players recognize that their play has been improving, but they want to see this reflected in their results.

“When we have been playing highly ranked teams, we feel that we have played with them, but now we need to learn how to get wins in these games,” senior midfielder and captain Devin Muntz said. “We hope that we can now take our experiences over the last couple of games and find ways to win rather than just playing good soccer and suffering defeats.”

The Tigers acknowledged that the Columbia matchup could mark a significant turning point in their season. The chance to post its first Ivy League victory is not something the team is taking lightly, and Saturday’s game should definitely be one to watch.