The men’s soccer team battled for a hard-fought point in its scoreless tie against conference foe Princeton (4-5-1, Ivy 1-0-1) Saturday night at Stevenson Field. Goalkeeper Josh Weiner ’14 kept a blank sheet for the game, recording eight saves in net, to help preserve Brown’s (3-5-3, 0-0-2) unbeaten record in Ivy play.
Though Princeton had the upper hand offensively in the first half, Bruno was able to fend off any scoring chances with stingy defense and timely goalkeeping.
“Saturday was a hard-fought game,” said forward Voltaire Escalona ’14. “Our defense really played well, especially our keeper Weiner, who came through with some strong saves late in the game.”
The Tigers offense reignited in the second half with two shots on goal soon after the start of play.
The Bears seized on one of their best scoring opportunities when David Taylor ’15 put a ball into the box — but a header by Tariq Akeel ’16 could not sneak past the Tigers’ keeper and left the game scoreless.
“The game was pretty much even throughout,” Weiner said. “We would control, then they would take over, so it was back and forth the whole time.”
“(The) midfield had good scoring opportunities that maybe on another night might’ve gone in,” Weiner added.
With no successful shots in the first 90 minutes, the game went into two overtime periods. Princeton controlled the first set of extra time, but the Bears dominated the second, taking three shots in the final minutes.
“The game was pretty even so I think a tie was a fair result,” Escalona said. “Princeton is a good passing team and they battled us until the final whistle.”
“We obviously wanted to win,” Weiner said. “But a tie is better than a loss in terms of points.”
Bruno currently sits in fifth place in Ivy League standings, tied with Columbia. The conference is “really even, and it’s everyone’s ball game right now,” Weiner said. Yale leads the conference with two wins.
“We need to start turning ties into wins,” Escalona said. “We are in a good position in the league and we are going to train hard this week and prepare for a quality Harvard team.”
The Bears return to action Saturday at Harvard.
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