Men's Soccer: Hoppenot nets hat trick in 4-0 win over Yale

The men’s soccer team (9-5-3 overall, 4-2-1 Ivy League) kicked off Princeton’s winning Homecoming Weekend with a huge 4-0 victory over Yale (5-9-3, 2-5-0) in Roberts Stadium on Friday night. Despite a season of extreme highs and lows, the Tigers closed their regular season with their most dominant win of the season, in a game that was televised as Fox Soccer Channel’s College Game of the Week.

“It was a great effort,” head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said. “To be on national television, to have a game with such big implications for the post-season and for our guys to put their best effort on the field in tough conditions was great. I think that was our best game of the year.”

In addition to the pressure of the cameras, it rained throughout the game. The huge group of student fans didn’t seem to mind, though, as they gathered behind the opposing team’s goal. The first 200 people to enter the stadium received free Princeton soccer T-shirts.

“I loved the fans,” sophomore forward Antoine Hoppenot said. “It was probably one of the best environments I’ve ever played soccer in, and it felt really good to please them.”

Hoppenot played one of the best games of his career against the Bulldogs, netting Princeton’s first three goals. The action began with freshman midfielder Lester Nare’s header just more than a minute into the game, but it barely missed the goal. Hoppenot and freshman forward Matt Sanner combined to create opportunities in the box. They succeeded midway through the half: Hoppenot took Sanner’s cross, sending it into the goal with one touch and putting the Tigers up, 1-0.

The game started off slippery and slightly messy, and the first half was riddled with fouls and frustration with the referee. Yet Princeton controlled the ball for almost the entire game. With just more than 10 minutes left before halftime, Hoppenot beat a pair of defenders and sent a slider into the back of the net.

In response, Yale mounted its most threatening effort of the game. Forward Brad Rose sent a shot toward junior goalkeeper Sean Lynch, who made the save but could not maintain a grip on the wet ball, allowing forward Kevin Pope to take another shot. Luckily, junior defender Josh Walburn was there to clear the ball out of the box.

Hoppenot recorded his third goal of the night and 10th of the season eight minutes into the second half. After Yale goalie Travis Chulick came far forward to kick the ball, Sanner sent a shot into the open net that deflected down off the crossbar. Hoppenot was there to casually head the ball in and build the Tigers’ lead to 3-0. Immediately after, Hoppenot and other players ran to the crowd behind the net to celebrate.

At this point, Barlow substituted several players while maintaining the starting back four and Lynch to preserve the shutout. Starting senior midfielders Ben Harms and Devin Muntz got a chance to rest, while the other two seniors, defenders Danny Steiner and Nate Krinsky, saw playing time in the midfield. As Muntz, the team’s sole captain for the past two years, jogged off Myslik Field, he and Barlow shared a hug.

Despite personnel changes, junior midfielders Brandon Busch and Tim Sedwitz strung together an impressive goal with two-and-a-half minutes to go. Busch crossed the ball to an open Sedwitz, who sent it into the net for the first goal of his collegiate career.

In every aspect of the game, Princeton showed considerable improvement from the early games of the season.

“We were so much better in terms of our movement as a group and defending up high,” Barlow said. “I think our midfielders did such a good job defending and winning the ball in parts of the field where now we could spring Antoine and get dangerous. The back four was great again. Sean Lynch had to make one great save in the first half, but otherwise the back four did a great job as well.”

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Though they don’t show up in the box score, the defenders deserved credit for keeping Lynch out of danger and giving the offense a chance to create opportunities.

Juniors Teddy Schneider, Ben Burton and Josh Walburn combined with freshman Mark Linnville to halt the Bulldogs at every step.

“We all played well,” Hoppenot said. “Everyone knew how important this game was for the season, for the seniors. We knew that to keep our hopes alive, we had to win this game.”

Princeton is currently ranked 14th in the national RPI rankings and received one vote in the NSCAA poll. They finished in third place in the Ivy League after No. 11 Harvard’s 1-0 win over Penn and Brown’s 3-0 victory over Dartmouth. Harvard ends its regular season atop the standings with five wins, a loss — to the Tigers — and a tie within the league, and Brown finished second. The Crimson will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, while Princeton, Brown and Dartmouth will hope for at-large bids.

The NCAA field will be announced today, and the tournament will begin this weekend.