Last night in New Haven, men’s soccer (11–1–2 overall, 5–0–0 Ivy League) cruised past Yale (2–8–3 overall, 1–3–1 Ivy League) in a 4–0 victory, securing their spot in the Ivy League Tournament. The win continues a dominant run that has landed them at the number one ranking in the NCAA Division I RPI rankings.
The Tigers scored four goals in the first 35 minutes and maintained their comfortable lead throughout, relying on their deep bench to give their starters a rest. The game saw first career goals for junior midfielder Liam Beckwith and senior midfielder Sam Vigilante in the 4–0 rout.
Princeton arrived in New Haven ready to secure their spot.
“Our expectation was to win,” senior forward Danny Ittycheria wrote to The Daily Princetonian after the game. “We knew if we listened to our coaches’ tactics, played together, and fought for each other, then we would get the win.”
The first few minutes featured high energy from both sides. A few seconds after kick-off, Yale’s Simon Adjakple body-slammed senior midfielder Jack Hunt, despite Hunt being nowhere near the ball.
“Once Jack Hunt got a body check on the first play, I knew it would get the boys fired up,” Ittycheria said.
Princeton carried this energy through the game, putting high pressure on the Bulldog defense, with a shot and two corner kicks in the first ten minutes of the game. After a stretch of intense pressure around Yale’s 18-yard box, 15 minutes into the game, the Tigers broke through.
After the ball fell at Ittycheria’s feet on the right side of the field, just outside the 18-yard box, the forward made an incisive touch forward, powering by his defender. Ittycheria sent a perfectly slotted ball behind Yale’s backline to the far post for Beckwith to tap into the net, marking Beckwith’s first career goal.
“It was a long time coming,” he told the ‘Prince.’ “I am glad I was able to help the team come out on top today.”
With Princeton maintaining a stringent pressure on the Bulldogs, Yale only managed to get their first shot off around 20 minutes into the game, which junior goalkeeper Andrew Samuels smoothly tipped over the bar.
The Tigers quickly responded to this attempt, adding to their tally with a goal by Vigilante less than three minutes later. A deflected ball fell at the foot of Beckwith, who took a blistering shot from 20 yards off. The Bulldogs managed to batter it away, but Vigilante quickly pounced on the open ball, lifting it into the top right corner of the net for the second goal for Princeton and the first in Vigilante’s Princeton career.
Vigilante continued his offensive pressure, earning Princeton a penalty kick in the 28th minute. Ittycheria stepped up to take the kick.
Yale goalkeeper Conrad Lee attempted to psych out Ittycheria, leaving the right side of the goal open. Ittycheria was unfazed, confidently slotting the ball past Lee into the top left corner of the net for his eighth goal of the season.
“I've been practicing [penalty kicks] in training and found a good routine to block out the noise and the keeper trying to play mind games,” Ittycheria reflected. “Going at my own pace really allows me to just focus on myself and hitting the ball,”
Five minutes later, junior forward Bardia Hormozi served up a moment of magic. Receiving the ball around 35 yards out, Hormozi spun around, taking a quick touch to the right before slicing by the left side of his defender, completely throwing the Bulldog off balance. He blazed towards the goal, charging forward 30 yards. Unfazed by the two Yale defenders closing in on either side, Hormozi drove towards the goal, sliding the ball smoothly into the far left side, scoring Princeton’s fourth goal.
With Hormozi’s tally, Princeton easily finished out the remaining few minutes of the half, holding the Bulldogs to zero goals. The dominant defense, coupled with four goals, made for what Head Coach Jim Barlow ’91 called Princeton’s ‘best half of the year’.
“To score four goals in a half, especially in a conference game, is a testament to the quality we have going forward,” Vigilante said.
The confident Tigers returned from the half ready to build off the first half. Princeton stayed composed, controlling possession and the pace for the rest of the game. Barlow took the Tigers’ strong lead as an opportunity to utilize his deep bench, subbing off some of his starters in favor of some players who hadn’t gotten as many minutes this season.
While Yale had a few chances off free kicks throughout the second half, the Princeton defense easily neutralized these. A crunching foul on senior defender Stephen Duncan earned Yale’s Andrew Seidman a yellow with eight minutes left in the game, earning a cry of uproar from the Tigers’ bench. The rest of the game passed by easily, with Princeton ending the second half 4–0, having subbed every position at some point during the half except for the two center backs.
This victory over Yale guarantees Princeton’s participation in the Ivy League Tournament and marks the Tigers’ 12th game undefeated in what has been a historic season.
“This win is just another step towards some of our year-long team goals, and is a testament to all of the hard work and dedication that the team has put in this year,” Beckwith noted.
As they continue preparing for the Ivy tournament, the path forward for Barlow is simple.
“We are just trying to get better every day,” Barlow told the ‘Prince.’
Leila Eshaghpour-Silberman is a staff Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com
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