Men’s soccer falls to Georgetown 2–0

On Tuesday, the Princeton men’s soccer team (2–3 overall, 0–0 Ivy League) faced the Georgetown Hoyas (4–2–3 overall, 1–0 Big East) in the nation’s capital at Shaw Field. Coming off two straight wins against St. John’s and Colgate, hopes were high to extend the winning streak to three games. However, the Tigers were outclassed by the top-15 ranked Hoyas by a final score of 2–0, failing to extend their winning streak to three.

While the result is certainly disappointing for the Tigers, the Hoyas were no easy matchup — Georgetown entered this game as the 14th best team by NCAA’s Rating Percentage Index (RPI) system compared to Princeton’s rank of 103.

The alarms sounded early for the Tigers when the Hoyas miraculously scored in the first minute of the game. Midfielder Max Viera dribbled through the Tiger defense and dished a beautiful pass into the box for midfielder Matthew Van Horn to finish.

The rest of the game was characterized by Princeton’s efforts to equalize, as neither team was able to convert for the majority of the contest. The Hoyas nearly extended their lead in the first half, but the goal was called off and ruled offside just before the break.

The score stayed stagnant until a last-minute goal by Jack Heaps of the Hoyas, who put the game away in a one-on-one against sophomore midfielder Liam Beckwith.

The first-minute goal by the Hoyas massively shifted the momentum of the game in their favor. The Hoyas outperformed the Tigers in major offensive categories, such as total shots (17–11) and shots on goal (7–2).

Senior goalkeeper Khamari Hadaway was, however, a bright spot for the Tigers all game. He made several crucial saves that prevented the early Hoya lead from snowballing. Hadaway was in a tough situation with virtually no defensive support when he conceded the second goal, as the defense had gone up the field in an attempt to generate a last-minute chance that ultimately did not end up converting.

The attack showed flashes throughout the game and generated eight corner chances which provided hope of scoring a goal to equalize. Junior forward Danny Ittycheria, who was the leading goal scorer for the Tigers in 2023, had three shots and helped anchor the attack as he has done all season.

“Overall, we battled the whole game, and in the second half I felt we pinned them back a lot and were definitely the better team,” Ittycheria told the Daily Princetonian. He noted that “taking advantage of the amount of free kicks and corner kicks we get is crucial” as a future focus for the Tigers.

The Tigers’ attack was mostly generated on the right side of the field for the first half. Junior midfielder Jack Jasinski took up the role on the right wing in some actions during the game, including some brilliant crosses and passes to attackers such as Ittycheria.

“[Jasinski] is super effective … he’s kind of like the unsung hero; nobody talks about him but he’s a huge piece, and we would be missing a lot without him,” Ittycheria said. “He’s really provided another attacking threat that maybe we didn’t expect — he’s more of a defensive player usually, but him providing a lot of attack is super key and helps us a lot.”

While the loss was disappointing for the Tigers, the road ahead looks easier for the Orange and Black. No team the Tigers will face in Ivy League play is ranked as high in the NCAA’s RPI index as Georgetown is. Princeton will be playing its first conference game against the Harvard Crimson (0–2–3, 0–0) on Sept. 28 at Roberts Stadium. Harvard was a top-three Ivy League team by points last season, but the Tigers will be eager to get back on track and open up Ivy League play with a rivalry win.