Princeton Presents Ivy Must-Win for M. Soccer Tomorrow

Tigers may be able to roar, but a Crimson can, well, win a soccer match, hopefully.

The men's soccer team certainly hopes that it can win when it visits the Princeton Tigers tomorrow afternoon in a match that could very well determine Harvard's fate in the Ivy League.

"We absolutely must win [tomorrow] if we are to have a chance at [making] the [NCAA] tournament," freshman striker Marko Soldo said.

Harvard (4-5-1, 2-2 Ivy) enters tomorrow's game in fourth place in the Ivy League, trailing league leader Dartmouth by one and a half games, but with two losses before hitting the meat of its schedule, has no further margin for error.

The Crimson maintains a half-game edge over the Tigers (5-6-1, 1-2), who are tied for fifth place.

Fresh off its exhilarating 2-1 double-overtime victory over Holy Cross last Saturday, the Crimson hopes to carry some momentum into tomorrow's contest. The victory helped Harvard continue its winning ways as it has won four of its last five games.

The Crimson is profiting from the outstanding play of junior midfielder Armando Petruccelli, who has scored 12 points this season in only seven games. Sophomore Ryan Kelly, freshman Jonathon Oslowski, and Soldo have also been contributing on the offensive end, along with freshman Mike Peller who was named Ivy League Rookie of the week for the week of Oct. 5.

Princeton comes into tomorrow's contest riding a two-game winning streak. The Tigers beat Lafayette 1-0 on Wednesday and beat American University 2-1 last Saturday.

The Tigers sport a deceiving Ivy League record. While they trail Harvard in the standings, their only two losses have come at the hands (the feet) of Dartmouth and Brown, both unbeaten and by far the strongest two teams in the league.

All season long, Princeton has relied on its defense to win games. Its offense has struggled, scoring only 14 goals all season compared to the 24 its defense has allowed.

The Tiger defense is led by co-captain Chris Halupka, who has proven to be a force in the backfield. The six-foot, 160-pound Halupka was a unanimous First Team All-Ivy League honoree last season, to go along with his First Team All-Mid-Atlantic-Region award.

Offensively, Princeton is led by three juniors: co-captain Chad Adams, forward Justin Kerr and midfielder Griff Behncke. Adams has been labeled a very hard worker, perhaps because he has fought his way off the bench to become co-captain.

Kerr, also a former bench jockey, earned a starting role midway into last season and went on to lead the Tigers with 14 points. The 6'2", 175-pound Behncke, who splits time between defense and midfield, earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 5.

One questionable spot for the Tigers is at goalkeeper. The Tigers are suffering from the loss of last year's starting goalie Ethan Bing, and were forced to choose between three untested goalies this year. Sophomore Michael Cohen, who had started until this week's match against Lafayette, clearly was not doing the job, as the 24 goals he allowed can attest.

Freshman Jeff Gillie got his first collegiate start against the Leopards and pitched a 1-0 shutout.

The Crimson will look to continue its success against Princeton following last year's 3-0 trouncing in Cambridge. This year will not be quite as easy.

"It's always a tough game [at Princeton]," captain Andrew Lundquist said. "It's usually homecoming and there are tons of fans and everyone is really psyched up. But it should be fun."

The toughest is yet to come for the Crimson, who will host perennial national powerhouses Dartmouth and Brown on consecutive weekends after the Princeton trip. Dartmouth, ranked No. 16 in the nation, and Brown are both undefeated in the Ivy.