The last time the men’s soccer team beat Brown, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was running ads against John Kerry, Usher’s “Yeah!” was the No. 1 song in the country and the Boston Red Sox still had not won a World Series since 1918. On Saturday at Roberts Stadium, the Tigers (5-3-1 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) will look to break their mini-curse against an undefeated Bears team (7-0-2, 1-0) that is currently ranked No. 13 in the nation.
After a slow start to the season, Princeton is riding a four-game home stand winning streak, marked by a high-scoring, aggressive offense and a defense that has been fairly solid. Senior midfielder Josh Walburn was selected as Ivy League Player of the Week this week, and junior forward Antoine Hoppenot received the honor the previous week. After scoring two goals in last Saturday’s 3-0 win over Dartmouth, Walburn assisted Hoppenot for Princeton’s first goal in Tuesday’s 3-2 victory over Seton Hall and made the game-winning penalty kick in overtime. Hoppenot, meanwhile, is second in the Ivy League in both points and goals, with 15 and six, respectively. He is also one of only two Ivy League players in the NCAA Division I top 25.
These players’ contributions led to three relatively easy wins to start the home stand. “This five-game home stand — we want to go 5-0,” head coach Jim Barlow said after the Dartmouth shutout. “We’re getting there.”
Nevertheless, the Tigers ran into some trouble in the second half against Seton Hall on Tuesday. After Hoppenot’s early goal and a 62nd-minute goal by junior midfielder Manny Sardinha, Princeton appeared poised for its fourth consecutive victory, and the players may have realized this a bit too soon. Although they were saved by Walburn’s overtime heroics, the Tigers were lax on defense and could not maintain possession of the ball for the latter part of the second half.
“We got too complacent,” said freshman midfielder Dylan Bowman, who was credited with an assist on Sardinha’s goal. “We can’t let that happen at all against Brown because it’ll kill us.”
Barlow attributed some of the Tigers’ defensive lapses to the absence of sophomore defender Mark Linnville, who was taken out of the game after sustaining a head injury in the second half. “When he’s on the field, it’s clear how important he is in keeping our back line connected,” Barlow said. Linnville later returned to the game, and Barlow said he should be completely healthy for the match against Brown.
Princeton will likely need all the help it can get. In addition to history being on the Bears’ side, Brown enters the match riding a five-game win streak and holding sole possession of first place in the Ivy League. Most impressively, the Bears — led by senior goalkeeper Paul Grandstrand — lead the nation with only one goal allowed all season. In Brown’s Tuesday match against Big East rival St. John’s, Grandstrand recorded seven saves, including one off a hard strike from within the penalty box.
“[Brown is] always a big, physical team,” Walburn said. “They’ve only given up one goal all year [and] they’re very solid in the back, so it’s going to be tough to get goals.”
Barlow, however, said that he likes Princeton’s scoring chances. “Our forwards have been dangerous the last couple weeks,” he said. “We’re confident in our chances, but we’ve just got to make sure we do it in a disciplined way. We’ve got to attack with the right number at the right time.”
While Barlow downplayed the significance of this particular game — noting that all league matches are crucial since there are only seven of them — his players were very clear about what is at stake Saturday afternoon.
“It’s going to be the biggest game of the year, especially if we get the win,” Bowman said. “If we get the win, we’re sitting on top of the Ivy League at 2-0, and we’re in good shape.”
The winner of the Ivy League receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which the Tigers qualified for last year after receiving an at-large bid. Harvard won the league last season.
Barlow explained that one of Princeton’s biggest advantages going into Saturday’s match will be playing on its home turf.
“Brown’s a really rough place to play, they get really big crowds there and it’s a very tough atmosphere,” he said. “We want it to be like that here, and we feel like we’re starting to have that kind of atmosphere. We feel like the better we do, the more fans come out. The student body seems to be getting into it, and that’s a really important thing.”
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