On a cool Tuesday evening at Roberts Stadium, Princeton men’s soccer (4–3 overall, 1–0 Ivy League) kept a consecutive clean sheet in a 1–0 victory against the Monmouth Hawks (4–1–5, 1–0–3 Coastal Athletic Association). The win follows their 2–0 victory over Harvard to open Ivy League play.
Sophomore forward Ian Nunez scored the lone goal of the game. The Tigers’ victory handed Monmouth their first loss of the season as the Tigers’ defense stood strong throughout the 90 minutes.
“That was probably the most we’d had to defend all year and I thought they were a really, really good team,” Head Coach Jim Barlow ’91 told The Daily Princetonian. “They spread the field out, they moved the ball well, they got us chasing and we found a way despite all that to get a win.”
The game was tense from the start as the teams tried to find their rhythm. The Tigers had the opening chance following a close shot on goal by sophomore midfielder Bardia Hormozi as he drove into the box before his shot skimmed just out wide.
The Hawks kept pushing against Princeton but did not register a shot throughout the first half despite some attempts to catch sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Samuels off of his line. Their only attempt in the first half was a ruled out goal from a corner after the Monmouth scorer held and pushed down a Tiger defender.
Monmouth grew into the game and began challenging Princeton more, but the Tigers continued to hold them off.
In the 45th minute, senior forward Harry Roberts had a great run up the left side of the pitch before he crossed it into the feet of Nunez who tucked it away in the bottom right corner, beyond the outstretched limbs of the Monmouth goalie. This was Nunez’s first goal of the season, and it proved pivotal in the Tigers’ success on the day.
“It was super exciting. I wasn’t expecting that to happen,” Nunez told the ‘Prince’ about his goal. “Being able to put it in the back of the net, being in the right spot at the right time was really a great feeling.”
The Tigers went into the second half up 1–0 thanks to this crucial goal, changing the course of the match and undoubtedly the halftime team talks from each coach. The Tigers went into the dressing room having registered four shots and one on goal — which they scored.
Coming out in the second half, the Hawks really took the game to the Tigers. Monmouth notched a few close chances early on in the second half and some great saves by Samuels kept them at bay.
Samuels was starting his first ever game for the Tigers and on his debut he kept the opposition scoreless. In a heavily rotated squad, Samuels stood out as a key performer and contributor to the Tiger’s success on the day, having faced eight shots by the game’s end.
“First of all I have to thank my back line and really the whole team,” Samuels said to the ‘Prince’ about starting his first ever game. “I had a couple saves but really my back line was there for me my whole night, and I’ve also got to give credit to the other goalkeepers on the team.”
“It feels awesome, I didn’t really get to celebrate because it was a full 90 minute effort, but it feels great,” Samuels continued.
By the 87th minute, Samuels made his final save of the match after the Tigers had endured an intense second half from Monmouth. The Tigers didn’t have much possession in this 2nd second, but careful substitutions and impressive defending saw the game remain tight and in Princeton’s control.
A late counter-attacking chance by junior forward Will Francis in the 87th minute was missed just out to the right of the post. The Tigers fought to the end and managed to see out the game, claiming their hard-fought 1–0 win.
“It’s really good to get two shutout wins, it’s not something we’ve done in a really long time,” Samuels said to the ‘Prince.’ “I think we’re trending in the right direction, and even though we didn’t play our best tonight, we had a lot more energy versus Harvard. I thought we just grinded it out very well.”
Although Princeton lost the possession game, they took their sole chance on goal in the game well and that was all it took to get the win. Aided by a solid defense, the Tigers withstood the constant pressure by Monmouth and held them off for the full 90 minutes.
The Tigers continue their conference play on Saturday against Brown (3–4–1, 0–1–0), hoping to build off these consecutive impressive wins.
“Every game is just so tight, every game will be really close,” Barlow said about future matchups. “The margins are just so small, and we just have to be ready like we were against Harvard, be sharp, [and] have the right mentality to compete for 90 minutes.”
Alex Beverton-Smith is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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