Men's Soccer: Postseason hopes rest on make-or-break matchup

The resurgent men’s soccer team meets its toughest test of the season this weekend as it travels to Ohiri Field in Cambridge, Mass., to face Harvard.

Princeton (6-5-2 overall, 1-2-0 Ivy League) has convincingly won its last two games with scores of 3-0 on both occasions, but on Saturday it faces the No. 9 Crimson (10-2-1, 2-0-1), which has not yet lost at home this year.

The outlook isn’t too bleak for the Tigers, though. Despite enduring a seven-game winless streak before last Saturday’s matchup against Columbia, Princeton never doubted its ability, and this faith was rewarded with its first Ivy League victory, a dominating win against the Lions.

The Tigers proved that win was no fluke by posting another decisive defeat, this time against Colgate, at Roberts Stadium on Tuesday, so the team isn’t lacking confidence going into Saturday’s crucial conference matchup.

Freshman defender Mark Linnville said he believes in his team’s abilities.

“If we are able to pressure the ball all over the field and keep it locked at the back, then we have a good opportunity to get a result,” freshman defender Mark Linnville said.

The game has taken on great importance for the Tigers, not only for its impact on the Ivy League standings, but also for its influence in their bid to make the NCAA tournament.

“The Harvard game is somewhat of a make-or-break deal,” sophomore striker Antoine Hoppenot said. “We need a notable victory in our resume to get into the tournament, and beating a team that has been in the top 25 all season long and is currently in the top 10 would give us just that.”

Harvard deserves the respect the polls have been giving it this season, and the Crimson will pose a number of challenges for the Tigers.

Leading Harvard is striker Andre Akpan, a 2008 All-American who holds a Harvard record with 32 assists and has already scored nine goals this season.

Akpan has been named the Ivy League Player of the Week twice this year, and he also represented the United States in the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Stopping him will be key if Princeton is to come awa with the victory.

On offense, the Tigers won’t be able to focus on just Akpan, as he is partnered with forward Brian Rogers, who has tallied five goals and four assists despite starting just six games so far this season.

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The Crimson doesn’t rely wholly on its offense, though, and the defense has conceded only nine goals in 13 games this year.

Goalkeeper Austin Harms has posted five shutouts, one of them coming against No. 15 Brown in a 1-0 victory last week.

Harvard, however, is by no means invincible. After having won its first six games on the trot, the Crimson has lost its form of late, falling to No. 3 Wake Forest, being held to a double-overtime draw against Cornell and losing 4-0 last week to No. 17 Connecticut.

Harvard hasn’t been at its best in Ivy League play either, scoring only three goals in three games, so Princeton might just have a chance on Saturday.

But for that to happen, the Tigers will have to execute their own game plan, and that seems to have been the team’s focus in preparation for the match.

“We want to keep our current winning streak and good play going by getting the ball moving against them and pressuring them so that they have very little time on the ball,” senior midfielder and captain Devin Muntz said. “We need to keep playing well as a defensive unit and hopefully convert a greater number of our chances into goals.”

The Tigers know that this weekend’s game will very likely define the outcome of their season, but they are by no means afraid of the task ahead.

“We understand that this is a huge match for us, both in the league and for our chances at the postseason,” head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said. “But our players are looking forward to the challenge and excited at the opportunity they have.”

The game is more than just a chance to match themselves against the best, and the Tigers also said that victory could spur them on to even greater heights.

“We definitely feel that if we can get a good result at Harvard, we should be able to make a little bit of a run at the top of the conference,” Hoppenot said.

This weekend might just be Princeton’s chance to push itself ahead in the race for the Ivy League.