After a historic regular season, the No. 3 men’s soccer team (15–0–1 overall, 7–0 Ivy League) will host the Ivy League Tournament this weekend at Roberts Stadium as the top seed. The Tigers went undefeated in conference play for just the third time in program history and were the first team in Ivy League history to hold every opponent scoreless through the entire conference season.
Holding down the fort was junior goalkeeper Andrew Samuels, who was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth time this year, breaking the program record for most shutouts in a single season with 11.
The Tigers look ahead to their semifinal match, where they will face Harvard (8–5–3 overall, 3–3–1 Ivy League), the fourth seed in the tournament. The Tigers are currently riding a 12-match shutout streak, outscoring opponents 26–0 during that stretch.
A record-setting defense
“There is no easy Ivy League game and every match is ruthless,” Samuels told The Daily Princetonian. “To get a single shutout in an Ivy League match is worthy of celebration, but to do it to every team is truly mind-blowing. Shutouts in general really speak to the team’s overall commitment to defending and outworking opponents.”
Samuels’ 11 shutouts this season were the product of a disciplined defensive unit anchored by senior defender Giuliano Fravolini Whitchurch, ranked 28th by Top Drawer Soccer and sophomore defender Dash Papez, who has started 22 games over the past two seasons.
“I have absolute complete trust in the guys ahead of me,” Samuels said. “I truly believe we have the best backline in the country. We’ve played some impressive offenses this year, and our defensive unit has won almost every battle.”
Samuels, named to the MAC Hermann Midseason Watch List, credit the team’s defensive dominance to chemistry and shared mentality.
“Our mentality, in my eyes, has made us so special this year and made this record possible for me,” he said.
“From the first day of preseason, our mindset as a team, especially within the defensive unit, has been to make ourselves really hard to score against,” Fravolini Whitchurch said. “We take pride in our defending, and we celebrate keeping a clean sheet just as much as we would scoring a goal.”
Papez emphasized the trust built between the defense and Samuels this season.
“Whenever a ball is played in behind, I know exactly where Andrew is going to be. This unspoken communication has been so helpful at many points throughout the season,“ Papez said.
Scouting Harvard
Harvard enters the Ivy League semifinal as the fourth seed after a dramatic final weekend where they climbed from sixth place to secure the last tournament spot. The team will be making its second Ivy Tournament appearance in the last three years.
The Tigers’ last meeting with Harvard came on Sept. 27, when the Tigers won 1–0 in Cambridge. In that match, the Crimson had multiple set piece opportunities in the second half, including a penalty kick, that they failed to convert due to spectacular saves from Samuels.
The Tigers need to watch out for Harvard forward Adam Poliakov, who has scored five goals over his last five games, and forward Andreas Savva, who leads Harvard in points (13) with four goals and five assists on the season. Similar to the first game, the Orange and Black will need to avoid surrendering any set pieces.
The Tigers will take on Harvard in the semifinals at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13 at Roberts Stadium, with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship match.
The Ivy League Championship will take place on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 11:00 a.m. (ESPNU), where the winner of Penn v. Cornell will play the winner of Princeton v. Harvard.
“We treat every game like a final. I want people to remember this year's Princeton team as the best team in Princeton men’s soccer history,” Papez told the ‘Prince’.
Back to back
Last fall, Princeton won the Ivy League Tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. This year, they will look not only to make their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance, but also to win it all.
Three Ivy League teams made the NCAA Tournament last season, as the Cornell Big Red and Penn Quakers each earned at-large bids. The Ivy League is not nearly as strong this year, and any team other than Princeton will likely have to win two games this weekend to make the tournament.
The Tigers almost certainly have an NCAA berth locked up due to their body of work so far, and Fravolini Whitchurch said the team’s approach remains unchanged heading into the postseason.
“I don’t think we see these postseason games as much different than our regular season games,” Whitchurch said. “Our energy and focus going into every game has been as if that one game means everything for our season.”
Matthew Yi is an assistant Sports editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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