Men's Soccer: Big East doubleheader awaits Tigers

After the strong ending to last year’s men’s soccer season, in which Princeton went undefeated in its last seven regular-season games, the team had hoped to keep up that momentum this year. However, after two straight early season losses, the Tigers (1-2) find themselves in a hole and face their toughest test yet, a match against Georgetown (2-2-0) under Friday night lights at Roberts Stadium.

While this game does not influence the Tigers’ primary goal of winning the Ivy League, the team did not shy away from building up the magnitude of this game.

“Coming in, we’re 1-2, and the whole team feels like this is a big game, a turning point,” senior midfielder Brandon Busch said of the 7:30 p.m. game against the Hoyas. “We’re pretty calm, but it’s a pretty important Big East team.”

The Tigers will finish their weekend by traveling to play Villanova, another team from the Big East, on Sunday. The two games against Big East teams may prove to be important later in the season if Princeton is to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

Georgetown was listed as No. 20 last week in rankings put out by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, but the Hoyas have since fallen out of the top 25 due to consecutive losses. They were held to just six shots in a loss last week, including one attempt in the second half. Still, they pose a strong threat to Princeton.

“It’s definitely the biggest game so far,” sophomore goalkeeper Max Gallin said of the Georgetown match. “If we win this, things will probably change.”

The Wildcats (1-2-1) are also from a power conference but seem to be less intimidating on paper. They have allowed a first-half goal in every game they have played so far and have scored just three goals on the season.

Princeton’s defense, the strength of this team, will look to keep both teams to low scores, despite the absence of a key player.

The Tigers will be led by senior team captain and goalkeeper Sean Lynch, with senior defender Teddy Schneider and sophomore defender Mark Linnville patrolling the back line. They will likely be without senior defender Josh Walburn, the team’s most versatile player, who has yet to practice this season due to injury.

Offensively, the Tigers are led by sophomore forward Matt Sanner and junior forward Antoine Hoppenot. Hoppenot already notched his first goal of the year when he scored the deciding goal toward the end of regulation against Fairleigh Dickinson. Assistant coach Steve Totten lauded the two attackers’ play so far.

“Matt and Antoine complement each other very well,” Totten said in an e-mail. “Antoine is quick and very good at taking players on the dribble. Matt is a great target player. We expect them to be a major force in the attack as the year progresses.”

Totten added that he expects a greater role out of Busch, senior forward Max Hare and junior forward Paolo Iaccarino.

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Busch said that though the offense has played well in the continuous action of the game, they have struggled on set pieces, such as off throw-ins and corner kicks.

Princeton has been awarded 19 corners so far this season but has yet to score off of one of them.

The Tigers have been working on improving in this area in this week’s practices, and Busch pointed to early-season jitters as the reason for their struggles.

“It’s always tough in the beginning of the season to get everyone on the same page,” Busch explained.

The Tigers will try to do just that in their weekend series against two of the Big East’s best teams.