Men's Soccer: Princeton starts quest for repeat championship

As the men’s soccer team hits the road for its Ivy League opener against Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon, viewers will hardly be able to forget Princeton’s 7-0 record in conference play last season.

Princeton (1-5-1) has struggled in the early season, its only win coming against Villanova in a double overtime rally on Sept. 16 at Roberts Stadium. After Villanova’s Emerson Lawrence converted a penalty kick into a 1-0 lead in the 83rd minute of the game, junior captain and defender Mark Linnville quickly tied up the scoreboard in the 89th minute as he blasted his own penalty kick to the left side of the goal. Junior forward Matt Sanner sealed the win in the second minute of the second overtime with a cross-the-net bullet off an assist from senior forward Antoine Hoppenot and sophomore midfielder Chris Benedict.

However, the Tigers’ energy from their victory against Villanova was not enough to sustain a winning streak. In a Sept. 18 away game against Georgetown, the Washington D.C. team capitalized on two penalty kick opportunities in the 26th and 77th minutes of the game, securing a 3-0 win over the Tigers.

Local rival Monmouth also profited from a home-field advantage against Princeton with a late 2-1 win against the Tigers on Sept. 25 in West Long Branch, N.J. Princeton achieved a 1-0 lead in the 65th minute when Hoppenot converted a penalty kick. Defender Anthony Vazquez, the same player who pulled Hoppenot down before the play, was given a red card. Vazquez’s foul forced Monmouth to play a man down for the rest of the game, but the Hawks still launched two shots into the net late in the second half.

Perhaps the most heartbreaking loss came Wednesday in the last seconds of a double-overtime matchup against No. 15 St. John’s. The Red Storm racked up a seemingly unconquerable lead with the help of sophomores Jamie Thomas and Adrian L’Esperance by the 62nd minute. Just two minutes later, senior forward Antoine Hoppenot played the ball at the touchline back to freshman defender Myles McGinley, who shot at goal with freshman forward Cameron Porter making the final tip. Porter waited inside the box for another pass from Hoppenot just over 10 minutes later, after which the Tigers tied the game 2-2. However, midfielder Pablo Battuto Punyed’s overtime shot into the net gave Princeton a third consecutive loss.

Despite a rough beginning to Princeton’s non-Ivy League season play, the Tigers remain cautiously confident about Saturday’s game, remembering last year’s perfect Ivy League season.

“Sure, we didn’t get off to an ideal start,” junior goalkeeper Max Gallin said. “Sure, we have big shoes to fill [after last year’s 7-0 record]. But we have an extremely talented team ... Trying to repeat last year’s success is something to work for and is absolutely possible.”

Linnville echoed the sentiment toward last year and expressed a composed attitude toward the Tigers’ ability to repeat their Ivy League success.

“The Ivy League has a reputation of being one of the strongest leagues in the nation. Name any team — they’re always hard to beat,” Linnville said.

However, Linnville said Princeton feels excited going into the Dartmouth game because the returning players “got a taste of what it felt like to win, and we want to repeat the level of play we reached last year as champions.”

Like Princeton, Dartmouth (2-3-2) has struggled early in its non-conference season. The Big Green faced a complete shutout in its first 200 minutes of play this season and scored 10 goals in its last five games. Its recent success in the box has resulted in just two wins, both at home in Hanover, N.H., against South Carolina and UMass.

The Tigers will have to make an early push and retain possession during Saturday’s game to maintain their chances at a second consecutive Ivy League championship title and a third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. If Princeton can frustrate Dartmouth’s offense and keep the Big Green’s top scorer, forward Lucky Mkosana, who has scored four out of 10 goals, away from Gallin’s net, the Tigers will have a shot at a winning start in conference play.

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“We have the same talent, same game plan and same chances as we did last year,” Hoppenot said. “We just haven’t gotten it to happen yet, but we’ll get a little bit luckier if we play off our chances [against Dartmouth].”

Following Saturday’s game against Dartmouth, Princeton will face Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J., on Tuesday night. The Tigers will resume Ivy League play when they head to Providence, R.I., the following weekend to play Brown and the league’s leading scorer, T.J. Popolizio.