Sanner’s lone goal pushes Princeton ahead

The Princeton soccer team hit the ground running, following up its season opener against Dartmouth on Saturday with Tuesday-night non-conference play against Drexel.

The Tigers (4-5 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) had reason to be confident after their 2-1 win over Dartmouth, which was the Big Green’s (4-1-4, 0-1) first loss of the season.

Junior forward Cameron Porter, who scored the game-winning goal, earned his second-straight Ivy League Player of the Week award. Sophomore forward Thomas Sanner scored as well, putting him in first for the most goals of any player in the Ivy League so far this season with six.

In their first match-up since 2005, the Tigers and the Dragons proved to be evenly matched, and for the first half neither gained a clear advantage. Princeton managed to thwart Joaquin del Rosario’s shot about halfway through, but for the most part play was concentrated in the middle of the field. By the end of the first half, each team had taken just two shots, and none had found the back of the net. Each goalie had a save.

The tie was finally broken in the 58th minute, when Sanner scored, unassisted, his sixth goal of the season. This was the one and only goal to go up on the scoreboard, ending in a Tiger victory.

While in the first half both Drexel and Princeton took few shots, the Tigers ended up shooting much more frequently than Drexel, taking 13 as opposed to the Dragons’ four shots.

The Tiger offense took control in the second, taking five times as many shots as they had in the first. This continues the trend of Princeton play, as the team has consistently both shot and scored more in the second half than the first.

The Tigers return to league play this weekend with their first Ivy League away game on Saturday against Brown at 7 p.m.