Men's Soccer: Princeton prevails in matchup of Ivy unbeatens

“It’s a great feeling to win the league,” sophomore defender Mark Linnville said. “We’re a great team and we came here to do exactly this: win an Ivy League championship. It’s a feeling that won’t be matched for a long time.”

Although this was the penultimate match in league play, both teams entered the evening tied atop the Ancient Eight, knowing that a victory would be enough to take the title and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The pressure was on Princeton to extend its win streak to a program-record 11 games and reach the 12-win plateau for the first time since 1995, when the team was led by Bob Bradley ’80, the current coach of the U.S. National Team. And indeed, both sides played with the intensity and technical ability fitting of a championship game.

Spurred on by a passionate home support, Princeton came out firing in the opening stages of the game, hoping to grab a quick goal and become the first Ivy League team to score against the Penn defense all season. After two minutes, the Tigers nearly found the breakthrough, with senior midfielder Josh Walburn heading a shot narrowly wide. A minute later, junior striker Antoine Hoppenot found himself clean through on goal after a cutting pass from sophomore striker Matt Sanner, but Princeton’s leading goal scorer took perhaps one touch too many and found his low shot pushed wide by Quaker goalkeeper Ben Berg.

After these initial chances, Princeton was forced to fall back as Penn found a foot in the game. Though the Quakers were not particularly impressive in open play, they looked most threatening on set-piece opportunities in the first half. Their best opportunity came late in the half when Penn forward Christian Barreiro took a free kick and looked to catch senior goalkeeper Sean Lynch off guard while he was organizing his defense. The shot, however, fell straight into the arms of the grateful Lynch.

Princeton kept pressing forward in the first half, relying on long throws by Linville and corner kicks by senior midfielder Teddy Schneider to wreak havoc in the Penn penalty area. The Tigers broke through in the 32nd minute off a corner kick. Schneider’s outswinger made it into the box, where sophomore midfielder Lester Nare took a shot that met the head of senior defender Benjamin Burton. Burton was able to guide the ball through the Quaker defenders on the goal line and into the net. The halftime whistle was met with disappointment from the Tigers, who looked set to overwhelm their higher-ranked opponents.

In the second half, Penn began to produce chances after introducing a number of quick attackers. The pace and height of Quaker striker Tobi Olopade, who headed just wide on a number of occasions, were particularly troublesome for the Tiger defense. Yet determination and teamwork from the Princeton back line were enough to keep Penn at bay.

“They had some quick guys,” Burton explained. “We were just focused on covering for each other all the time and communicating.”

While the Princeton defense held Penn, the league’s leading striker force pushed forward in search of a second goal. Hoppenot provided what would prove to be the winning goal after 70 minutes. After receiving Walburn’s pass at the edge of the area, the speedy striker danced through the tackles of three Penn defenders and smashed the ball past the goalkeeper, cuing pandemonium in the stands.

Penn looked dead and buried until, unexpectedly, Thomas Brandt pulled a goal back for the Quakers in the 86th minute. The striker was able to hold off the Tiger defenders and coolly slot past the diving Lynch, setting up a nervy finish. But Princeton managed to end the match without incident, sparking wild celebrations from the home team at the final whistle.

Even head coach Jim Barlow took part, albeit involuntarily, as he was doused with a cooler in front of television cameras.

With its ticket punched to the national tournament, the squad is full of optimism.

“I don’t see why we can’t take our win streak all the way to the national championship,” Linnville said. “We’ve got a really good team here. Our goal is to get really deep into the tournament. Now it’s time to get there.”