Men's Soccer: Tigers stop slide with 7-goal rout

The men’s soccer team maintained its early lead against Seton Hall (4-5-2) and ended the game with a final margin of 7-3, reversing a four-game losing streak late Tuesday night. The Tigers (2-6-1 overall, 0-1 Ivy League), who entered the game with only one win, matched their goal total to this point in the season with a shocking offensive outburst.

Junior defender David Dubow headed in an early score from junior captain and defender Mark Linnville’s throw in at six minutes, 48 seconds. The Tigers maintained their position in the early going as Seton Hall struggled to give sophomore goalkeeper Seth MacMillan any challenges.

Aside from Seton Hall midfielder Christian Battistesa’s rebounded shot off the left post, the Pirates were unable to test MacMillan in the first 20 minutes of the game. In contrast, senior forward Antoine Hoppenot and freshman defender Myles McGinley joined Dubow in attempting several shots on Seton Hall’s freshman goalkeeper Mario DeClerico in the opening stages.

Only 12 minutes after netting his first goal of the season, Dubow capitalized on a deflected corner kick taken by McGinley, shooting the ball through DeClerico’s hands and into the net to double the margin.

One of the team’s expected top scorers, senior forward Antoine Hoppenot, joined the action before much time had elapsed. Hoppenot took a pass from senior midfielder Colby Hahn and scored from the middle of the box, completing the team hat trick at 24:39. Before the half-hour mark, Hoppenot and Hahn fed junior forward Matt Sanner, who finished into the net for a fourth score.

The Pirates tried to inch toward reversing Princeton’s 4-0 lead when Anthony Reichwaldt found the net. Reichwaldt’s initial attempt on a free kick was blocked, but he poked his rebound into the net to put Seton Hall on the board in the 32nd minute of the game.

But the Tigers’ defense held after that, taking the 4-1 advantage into halftime. After the break, Sanner countered Seton Hall’s resistance and found a loose ball in front of the goal in the 55th minute of the game when the opponent’s goalkeeper failed to handle a cross attempt. Sanner’s second goal of the game tied him a spot as Princeton’s leading scorer, along with Hoppenot and freshman forward Cameron Porter.

After the game, Sanner downplayed his own performance and focused on his teammates instead. “It was a big night for everybody. We have been struggling all year to get results and have underperformed, but we know we are a good team and tonight everything came together for us,” he said.

“David Dubow was brilliant tonight and sparked the team with his two goals to start the game. He was at the right place at the right time and had the poise to put the ball in the net,” he added.

The Tigers’ success in the box continued when Hoppenot dove into the box from the left side and chipped the ball into the goal in the 59th minute.

Seton Hall freshman Jason Wellington rocketed a shot into the net, putting the score to 6-2, but the Pirates had too little time to recover. Senior forward Zach Wyzgoski capped the Tigers’ expolsive night in the 88th minute, scoring off a long pass by senior midfielder Manny Sardinha in the 87th minute.

Princeton had not scored as many as seven goals in a game since 1995, a 7-3 victory over Adelphi.

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The Tigers said they hope tonight’s team performance will help them reverse a tough season and, as Sanner said, “open the floodgates” going back into Ivy League play in Providence, R.I., on Saturday.

“Brown is going to be a really tough game ... going into a game at Brown you have to prepare for a playground fight. It [will be] about fighting for the win and making sure [we] do what we need to get the job done,” he said.

Following Tuesday’s game against Seton Hall, Princeton faces Brown (5-4-0, 0-1) on Saturday.