Men's Soccer: Brown flexes muscles in Providence

The zest of its quick start long gone, the men’s soccer team is now winless in its last six games.

The Tigers dropped their second Ivy League game of the season in Providence, R.I., on Saturday. Princeton (4-5-1 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) fell 4-2 to No. 19 Brown (6-0-4, 2-0) to follow up a 4-2 loss to Dartmouth a week ago.

“We need to start believing in ourselves,” junior midfielder Brandon Busch said. “We started out 4-0 and were playing fine. We were playing every game like it was our last or like it was the game that was going to get us into the top 20. Then a couple things didn’t go our way, and the fire wasn’t there anymore. After this game, though, the seniors really stepped up trying to get us in the right mindset.”

Brown was on the offensive early, taking the lead one minute, 46 seconds into the game when forward Sean Rosa took a feed from defender Mike Manella in the middle of the box and beat Princeton junior goalie Sean Lynch with a shot to the right.

Though the goal came quickly, it did not demoralize Princeton. The Tigers fought hard for the rest of the half, outplaying the Bears for much of the period. But the Tigers were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. Brown goalie Paul Grandstrand made two saves in the first half.

Brown once again started quickly in the second half, scoring twice in a 21-second span. Rosa tallied his second goal of the game at the 50:19 mark. Then forward T.J. Thompson found midfielder Nick Elenz-Martin, who headed a ball into the top left corner at the 50:40 mark.

“When they scored the third goal, our team was kind of thinking, ‘What just happened?’ ” Busch said.

Freshman forward Matt Sanner got the Tigers on the board less than six minutes later.

Sanner, who brings great size to the table at six feet, one inch tall, headed a ball into the right corner of the net.

“As soon as [Sanner] scored, we got one under the belt and felt like, ‘Let’s go!’ ” Busch said.

Brown put the game away in the 64th minute when midfielder Jay Hayward bent a free kick into the right corner of the net from 35 yards out.

Princeton added a goal at the 69:08 mark. Brown had been called for a foul in their box and the Tigers earned a penalty kick. Busch — who led the team in goals and assists last season but has been injured for much of this season — stepped up to the plate and converted the kick, drawing the score to 4-2.

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“It felt good [to get my first goal of the season],” Busch said. “At the time it was 4-1, so it was important. We still had 20 minutes or so, which is doable.”

Senior forward Ben Harms finished with three shots, as did senior midfielder Devin Muntz and sophomore midfielder Antoine Hoppenot. Junior defender Josh Walburn finished with two shots, as did Sanner and Busch. Lynch made one save on five shots on goal.

Rosa led Brown with three shots and two goals. Junior forward Jon Okafor had five shots. Hayward finished with two shots and a goal, while Elenz-Martin scored his only shot. Thompson added two assists off the bench. Grandstrand saved five of seven shots on goal.

“As much as you could say when you give up four goals you can’t win, offensively we could have put two or three more in,” Busch said.

Princeton now faces a quick turnaround. The Tigers face St. John’s on Wednesday night at Roberts Stadium in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU. Princeton hosts Columbia on Saturday and Colgate next Tuesday before finishing the season with its remaining four league contests.

The Tigers face an uphill battle in the Ivy League, as they, along with Yale, are the cellar-dwellers of the conference.

Brown and Dartmouth, the two teams that have defeated Princeton, are tied for first with two wins each.