Men's Soccer: Tigers play to 1-1 draw

One more game, same old story: It had many offensive opportunities, but most of them were missed.

Last night, the men’s soccer team (4-5-2 overall, 0-2 Ivy League) hosted St. John’s (3-2-7) at Roberts Stadium in a game that was televised on ESPNU, and the nation was treated to a 1-1 double-overtime tie. With the draw, Princeton extended its winless streak to seven, and St. John’s recorded its seventh tie of the season.

It was an offensive battle, and once again, Princeton dominated a solid team. The Red Storm was ranked as high as No. 1 nationally in preseason polls, though they are currently unranked. The Tigers outshot St. John’s, 21-11, but nearly drew even in shots on goal, 7-6.

“We’re frustrated,” freshman defender Mark Linnville said. “We felt like we — once again — dominated a game, deserved a win, but walked away with a tie.”

The Red Storm started the game with a quick goal, garnering a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute of play. This was the first shot of the game, and St. John’s recorded two more in the first 10 minutes.

“We started off a little soft, letting in that first goal,” Linnville said. “But I think from then on it was all us.”

As Princeton began to respond offensively, the two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the half. At the halftime buzzer, the teams remained even in shots and saves.

St. John’s pushed the Tigers to slightly alter their style of play. Instead of relying on the midfield to pass around the middle and control the pace of the game, both Princeton and the Red Storm used their possessions to send the ball forward and pressure the defense.

“They kept sending the midfield runners, so they’d start out with two up top, and they would quickly become a five, and then the backs would join in,” Linnville said. “They did a lot of talking, a lot of organizing … We knew that they were committing so many numbers forward that we could catch them on the counter really easily.”

More than a minute into the second half, freshman forward Lester Nare went up for a header in the St. John’s box, flicking the ball just outside of the goalpost. Nare, who did not play in the first half, reversed his fortune just minutes later with a messy goal off a double assist. The goal, the first career goal for the forward, tied things up at one and attested to the team’s depth.

“If you get tired, there’s going to be a guy who can fill your spot and pick up the pace of the game,” senior midfielder and captain Devin Muntz said. “Lester was able to do that tonight.”

Toward the middle of the second half, St. John’s got physical so that they could avoid their seventh overtime of the season. They posted their most threatening shot of the half with a free kick on Princeton’s half of the field that sailed dangerously close to the net before junior goalkeeper Sean Lynch bumped it over the goalpost. The Red Storm earned a corner kick with less than a minute left in regulation, but after blocking the keeper, the referee called a foul and sent the teams into overtime.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The extra periods were dominated by close misses for the Tiger attack and were riddled with fouls committed by St. John’s. In the last 13 seconds, a Red Storm defender stormed the box with a close-range shot that bounced off the left goalpost. Lynch missed the save, but Linnville was there to deflect the ball before Lynch grabbed the rebound.

“They’re a good team,” Muntz said. “Obviously we need to win games like that, but it’s not the end of the world.”

Because this was not a conference game, the less-than-satisfying result has little meaning for the postseason. This weekend, however, they will try to channel their frustration into a win that would keep them in competition for the Ivy League title.

“We dominated this game. We just have to take away the tenacity that we showed and keep going with that,” Linnville said. “We didn’t have that [in] our first two Ivy League games.”

With a home match against Columbia on Saturday afternoon, the Tigers ready to channel their frustration into what they hope will be their first Ivy League win.