Men's Soccer: Princeton outfights Leopards for 2-1 victory

The men’s soccer team got a much-needed win on Tuesday evening at Roberts Stadium, defeating the Lafayette Leopards 2-1 in a physical matchup that was televised by ESPNU. The game, although close in score, was generally dominated by Princeton, which hopes to turn around what has so far been a disappointing season. The Tigers had won only two of 10 games entering the evening.

Tuesday’s game was defined by aggressive play by both teams. There was constant pushing and shoving. A lot of fans from both sides called for penalties and a minor skirmish even broke out near the end of the chippy contest.

Junior defender and captain Mark Linnville played very well to lead the Tigers (3-7-1 overall, 0-2-0 Ivy League) over the Leopards (6-3-3) on Tuesday night. His aggressive play and two assists gave Princeton a 2-1 lead entering the second half, an advantage that the defense preserved for the rest of the game. Linnville’s passing skills and leadership have proven to be key components of this team’s success.

“Obviously, it feels good. It’s only our third win of the year, but it’s good,” Linnville said. “We worked hard all over the field. [Lafayette] is a tough team to get goals against, and we got two … I think it was good for us to be able to close out a game because we were in a similar position against Brown and weren’t able to close it out.”

The two scorers were sophomore midfielder Chris Benedict, who found the net from long range off Linnville’s throw in the sixth minute, and junior forward Matt Sanner, who scored in the 24th minute after a Lafayette equalizer. Senior forward Antoine Hoppenot, Princeton’s leading scorer and the defending Ivy League Player of the Year, was injured early in the second half but later returned to play the closing minutes of the game.

Head coach Jim Barlow ’91 was hard on his team after the game, however, saying that, though he was happy with the win, the Tigers did not give its best performance.

“The way that things have gone this season, a win is great news,” he said. “We’re happy that we got the win. We didn’t think we played our best today, but we’ve certainly played well in games that we didn’t get the result.”

A big story of the season so far has been Princeton’s inability to capitalize on their opportunities. Despite the win, tonight’s game was no different in that respect. Princeton dominated this game from the opening whistle but almost saw its lead and possible victory slip away when Lafayette midfielder Blake Fink barely missed a goal on a breakaway in the middle of the second half.

Princeton held a similar 2-1 lead in their last game at Ivy League title contender Brown, but the Bears scored two late goals to win in overtime. The hosts have lost four goals in the final ten minutes of regulation or overtime this season, but avoided that fate with a strong defensive effort tonight, as Lafayette forced junior goalkeeper Max Gallin to make only one save and did not attempt a shot after Fink’s chance in the 66th minute.

Princeton won by the narrowest of margins despite outshooting Lafayette 11-1 in the first half and 20-4 overall.

The Tigers spoke after the game about what it takes to win these close games. “It’s just hard work and determination to win…It’s just your will to win to be honest,” Linnville said.

“[Winning close games] is such a fine line — taking care of the details, not taking breaks,” Barlow said. “We’ve had games where we’ve given up goals when the other team hasn’t had many chances…We’ve made mistakes in the back that have really cost us.”

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Princeton, which concluded a three-game road trip tonight, will stay at Roberts Stadium this weekend to host Columbia. The Tigers are still looking for their first Ivy League victory of 2011 after winning all seven league games last season and winning the conference championship.