Men's Soccer: Princeton, Harvard chase 1st league wins

The Tigers (3-8-1 overall, 0-3-0 Ivy League) enter Saturday’s contest following a heartbreaking defeat in the 89th minute at the hands of Columbia last Saturday. Harvard (2-9-1, 0-3-0) is also coming into the game off a loss at home last weekend against Brown.

Both teams have had a full week of rest, as neither has played since Oct. 15. “Having this week to prepare should help some of the guys who have been playing with injuries and give us a chance to recover from having so many games over the past three weeks,” head coach Jim Barlow ’91 said.

In addition to injury recovery and rest, Barlow also cited the ability to have more rigorous practices as an advantage of the time off. “Over the past several weeks, so many days in training have been either the day before a game or the day after a game, and we haven’t been able to push the training sessions as hard as we would like,” he said.

The Crimson offense has struggled mightily so far this season, posting only five goals in its first 12 games, and it has yet to score more than one goal in any single game. Barlow hopes to score a goal early to take some pressure off the defense and open up the offensive attack.

“We want to get forward and get the first goal, but do so in a way where we are not vulnerable to giving one up on a counter or getting too stretched out,” Barlow said. “While Harvard has not scored a lot of goals this year, we know they are a good team with many players capable of scoring.”

Forward Brian Rogers, forward Connor McCarthy and midfielder Scott Prozeller are among those potentially dangerous players who the Tiger defense will have to contain. Prozeller scored the lone Crimson goal in a 2-1 loss at Princeton last year.

While Harvard has struggled offensively this year, the Tigers seem to be catching their stride on the offensive end. Princeton has scored 15 goals in its last six games after netting only four in their first six. The Tigers’ leading scorer, junior forward Matt Sanner, attributes Princeton’s improving offense to a more consistent lineup and more experience playing together over the course of the season.

“I think that we have developed better chemistry as we have gone throughout the season,” Sanner said. “Guys have also stepped up to take on the responsibility of putting the ball in the net, and, as a result, we have been hungrier in the box and have been putting some chances away.”

The Tigers hope that their trip to Harvard will help set the tone to close out the season. After their game in New England this weekend, Princeton will head back home for two games against Ivy League leader Cornell and non-conference foe Lehigh.