Men's Soccer: Princeton goes 7-0 in conference play

“We thought before the season started, given the parity in our league and the number of top programs, that 5-2 would win the championship,” head coach Jim Barlow said in an email.

But the team’s path to success was never certain. Early season injuries and a slow nonconference start that included losses to Lehigh, American and Villanova placed the team’s season in jeopardy before the bulk of it had started.

The turning point, however, came against Richmond at home. After conceding an early goal, the Tigers battled back and spent the rest of the match bombarding the Spiders’ net, eventually earning a 3-1 victory. The win kicked off a 12-game winning streak in which Princeton crushed then-No. 13 Brown 3-0 and defeated traditional league rivals Harvard and Penn en route to the title.

“The comeback against Richmond started our win streak, and we were very good in the second half of that match,” Barlow said. “We started off the Ivy season with back-to-back 3-0 wins against Dartmouth and Brown, and those wins gave us confidence and the belief that we could beat anyone.”

The only damper on the team’s rampant performance was its shocking first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament at the hands of University of Maryland in Baltimore County. Indeed, the team looked to be well on its way to the next round of the tournament after junior forward Antoine Hoppenot scored a remarkable goal directly from a corner kick, but a scrappy, physical affair saw the Terriers grab a late winner to stun the Tigers.

“We had the talent to go deep in the tournament this year, but the UMBC game somehow got away from us,” Barlow said. “We will worry about going deeper once we get there, but we know how difficult it is to make it to the NCAAs.”

Princeton will find it a challenge to replicate this year’s undefeated campaign in the coming years, especially after losing a strong cadre of seniors, led by midfielder Josh Walburn, defender Teddy Scheinder and goalkeeper Sean Lynch. Both Walburn, a determined playmaker, and Schneider, a defensive stalwart, were drafted in January in the MLS Supplemental Draft. Though Walburn was waived by the Philadelphia Union, Schneider has since signed a professional contract with the New York Red Bulls.

“We lose a great class, one of our best ever, without question,” Barlow said. “They are winners and we will miss them. Having said that, they also served as great role models, and some of the younger players on our team are now confident and ready to step up and play a bigger role.”

Indeed, a talented group of rising seniors and juniors and a strong recruiting class will be prepared to fight to keep the title at Princeton. Hoppenot, the 2010 Ivy League Player of the Year and second-team NSCAA All-America, and sophomore forward Matt Sanner will lead the charge on goal, while sophomore defenseman and captain Mark Linnville, first-team All-Ivy, will lead the backline.

“We return a talented group and have some exciting players joining the team in the fall,” Barlow said. “We can’t wait to get back to work and to see how the group comes together for the challenges of 2011.”