Men's Soccer: Tigers to battle lowly Big Red

“This is the kind of game that will be a good test for us,” senior midfielder Timmy Sedwitz said. “We’re coming off midterms week, and this is an away game, so if we’re not ready to go, we’re not going to do well.”

Although Cornell (4-6-4 overall, 0-3-1 Ivy League) is currently at the bottom of the league and is riding a three-game losing streak, this is a match Princeton cannot afford to take for granted. With fellow league-leader Penn playing a Saturday match against third-place Brown, and only two more league games this year for all teams, this game has the potential to determine the outcome of the league.

“This game will have an extremely large impact on us in determining whether we’ll be able to win the league,” Sedwitz said. “If we win, we set ourselves up with the possibility of winning the league. Each game at this point is so vital and important.”

With the Ivy League’s worst discipline (213 fouls in 14 games), the Big Red defense will look to disrupt the Tigers’ fluid ground play and force them to attack through the air. On the other end of the ball, Cornell — one of the least-prolific scoring squads in the league with 13 goals in 14 games — will try to catch Princeton off guard through counterattacks.

“Cornell is a difficult opponent,” Sedwitz noted. “They’re a tough, hard-working team.”

Still, there is no clear reason why Princeton’s leading goal-scorers — junior forward Antoine Hoppenot (seven goals and four assists in 13 games) and senior midfielder Josh Walburn (six goals and five assists in 10 games) — should have trouble hitting the net against a Big Red defense that has conceded five goals in four league games this season.

While Cornell may not necessarily pose the biggest threat on the playing field, Princeton’s journey will still pose a challenge. Ithaca, five hours from Princeton, is one of the longest distances the Tigers must travel this season. With a team that is used to playing most of its games closer to home, such long travel could be a negative factor, Sedwitz said.

“You find yourself spending hours on the road and sleeping in a bed that’s not yours,” he said. “We end up going up there a day early and sitting around in a hotel without many activities. We’re really just sitting there waiting for the game to get going.”

Princeton must also cope with the growing pressure from its reemergence on the national radar.

Although the team was ranked nationally before the season began, its early-season struggles forced the team out of the rankings, though it has since returned during its crucial win streak.

While the team is highly ranked, a more important indication of its season successes is RPI, a rating that factors in a team’s strength of schedule. The Tigers have risen to No. 24 this week, an improvement from No. 31 when the first RPI ranking was released three weeks ago.

“We pay attention to the rankings a little bit,” Sedwitz said. “It’s cool to see we’re in the top 25, because that’s the first time it’s happened in my four years. But the only thing that really matters is RPI, and we’re trying to get that as high as possible. Right now, RPI is the only ranking we’re paying attention to.”