Princeton was winning 2-0 well into the second half but gave up two late goals, including the equalizer in the 85th minute, to allow the Pirates (3-5-1) to send the game into overtime.
In the eighth minute of the extra period, Walburn sent a long pass down the left side to junior forward Antoine Hoppenot, who beat his man as he sped to the ball. Hoppenot, who scored the first goal of the game, was brought down by a Pirate defender just as he stepped inside the top left corner of the 18-yard box, giving the Tigers a penalty kick.
“I just beat the guy, and he grabbed me,” Hoppenot said matter-of-factly after the game.
Walburn, who had missed a previous penalty kick, stepped up to the shot with the game on the line. He drilled a shot into the right side of the goal as the goalkeeper dove in the opposite direction, giving Princeton the walk-off win.
“Give our guys credit for getting the job done,” head coach Jim Barlow said. “Antoine did well to get by the defender. Regardless of the foul, he made a really hard play and got by him, and Josh stepped up and put the penalty away.”
The Tigers started the game with a goal in the 12th minute off a crisp pass from Walburn to Hoppenot, who sliced through two defenders and sent a shot into the upper right corner of the goal. Hoppenot now leads the team with six goals and 15 points on the year, while Walburn notched his team-high fourth assist to push his total points to 12.
Princeton experienced a scare in the second half, when star sophomore defender Mark Linnville injured his head on a contested high ball. Linnville was hit in the side of the head after a collision with a Seton Hall player and lay on the ground for several moments before being taken out of the game. Senior defender Tim Sedwitz filled in until Linnville returned to the game later in the half after being cleared by the trainers.
“It was good to see Mark Linnville bounce back after getting injured, to come back in the game and help organize the back again,” Barlow said. “Sedwitz had to go in the back when he got hurt and did a pretty good job back there.”
Senior goalkeeper and team captain Sean Lynch also helped control the defensive backfield, notching an impressive seven saves on nine shots on goal. The two teams had roughly equivalent stats, with Seton Hall slightly edging Princeton in shots, 19-17. However, Princeton put 10 shots on goal compared to the Pirates’ nine, including two in the overtime period.
The Tigers entered the game coming off three straight blowout victories, winning by a combined margin of 9-1. They looked to be on that path when, already up 1-0, sophomore midfielder Lester Nare crossed the ball to freshman midfielder Dylan Bowman just inside the box. Bowman chipped a beautiful ball to the right flank, where junior forward Manny Sardinha put away a goal to put Princeton up 2-0.
However, Seton Hall controlled the second half, notching eight shots on goal as it tied the game 2-2, and the Pirates entered overtime with the momentum after their comeback. Their confidence was short-lived, though, as Walburn celebrated his overtime winner by pulling and stretching the ends of his jersey while the team surrounded him in celebration.
“We said when we were 1-3-1 that we had a five-game home stand coming up, and we wanted to go 5-0,” Barlow explained. “We did not want any ties. We wanted to make a statement at home that no one is going to come here and beat us.”
Princeton will look to get that fifth-straight home win on Saturday afternoon against Ivy League challenger Brown.
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