Princeton prepares to face pair of in-state rivals

The men’s soccer team will look to establish a winning record by the end of this weekend, as it prepares to take on in-state rivals Rutgers and Seton Hall. The Tigers (0-1) battle the Scarlet Knights (1-2-1) Friday night in their first visit to Rutgers since 2006. Princeton hosts Seton Hall (2-0-2) in its home openeron Sundayafternoon, as the Pirates return to Roberts Stadium for the first time in three years.

Rutgers’ record belies the strength of a roster that shut out Princeton in the schools’ only meeting last fall. Sophomore midfielder Mael Corboz, who scored both goals in the Scarlet Knights’ 2-0 defeat of the Tigers, already has two goals on the year. Senior forward Kene Eze is the team’s leading scorer, with three goals netted in Rutgers’ first four matches. For the Tigers,Fridaymarks a chance at redemption, to make up for last year by beating Rutgers on its home turf.

“This game is definitely about redemption,” senior defender Billy McGuinness said.“We played pretty well against them last year, and even outshot them. A couple of our guys know some of their guys, and this is a chance for us to make a statement because they’re a good team.”

“Playing Rutgers again is important to the team, but especially to the seniors because last year was the first time we got to play them,” senior defender Patrick O’Neil said. “So this is the second and final chance we have to beat them.”

If Seton Hall takes down George Mason Friday, the Tigers will have the chance to hand the Pirates the first loss of their season. Notable threats from the Pirates’ squad include junior midfielder Konrad Plewa and freshman forward Danny Bartok, who have a combined four goals so far. Seton Hall’s underclassmen pose an even bigger threat —freshman midfielder Samuel Geiler, a native of Germany, has already netted four goals for the Pirates and was named last week’s Big East Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week.

Despite the strength of their upperclassmen, Princeton's captains know the younger members of their team will need to step up over next two games.

“We have a couple of injuries right now, particularly with me and [junior defenseman] Myles McGinley,” O’Neil said. “So we’ll need some of the younger guys to step up. [Freshman midfielder Brian] Costa and [freshman midfielder Bryan] Windsor will definitely both get time to contribute.”

“[Freshman midfielder] Greg Seifert will also get playing time,” McGuinness said. “He brings a different element to our game because he’s big and strong and quick, so he has a good physical presence up top.”

While the Tigers understand the importance of beating Rutgers and Seton Hall, they said their focus would be on preparing for the rest of the season with quality performances.

“We know that we need to be taking advantage of these early games before the Ivy League season starts,” O’Neil said. “It’s really difficult to win the league as it is, and last season it really hurt us to lose a midweek game and have a couple other bad results earlier on.”

“Right now, we’re just looking to create good chances,” McGuinness said. “We need numbers in the box. That’s what we’re trying to work on this weekend.”

The Tigers kick off against the Scarlet Knights at8 p.m. Friday. Game time is set for2 p.m. on Sundayagainst Seton Hall.