Men’s soccer
The men’s soccer team’s chances of an Ivy League title took a major hit Saturday at Princeton. The Bears (3-4-3, 1-1-0 Ivy) gave up two second-half goals to allow the prolific Tigers offense a comeback 2-1 win.
Princeton (5-3-2, 1-1-0) entered the game with one of the highest goals-per-game averages in the country at 2.11, but the Bears were riding a four-game shutout streak. Something had to give.
In many respects, goalkeeper Mitch Kupstas ’14.5 and Bruno’s back line performed admirably, allowing their Ivy foe to line up just two shots on goal in the contest. Unfortunately for Brown, both those shots found the back of the net.
In the 12th minute, Jack Gorab ’16 opened the afternoon’s scoring by threading a shot through the Princeton defense from the center of the box. Given the way Bruno’s defense has performed this month, the shot looked like it might be all the team would need.
But in the 69th minute, Tigers striker Cameron Porter did something nobody had done in 504 minutes of gameplay, dating back to Sept. 18: score on the Bears. Porter’s equalizer was followed just 15 minutes later by Joe Saitta’s decisive goal for Princeton.
Ancient Eight champions rarely suffer two league losses, so stumbling at Princeton in just the second game of the Ivy schedule does not bode well for Bruno’s title hopes. But a strong run through the rest of the conference schedule could still put the Bears in the driver’s seat. They will attempt to start that run Saturday with Harvard after tuning up Tuesday with Boston College.
Women’s soccer
Three Princeton goals in the first 20 minutes and a hat trick by Tigers sophomore Tyler Lussi contributed to the Ivy foe’s 5-0 blowout of the women’s soccer team Saturday. Bruno (5-5-3, 0-1-2 Ivy) traveled to New Jersey with ties in its first two conference bouts, but the Tigers’ high-octane offense ensured the Bears would not leave with their first Ivy win. The team bounced back somewhat with a 1-1 tie Monday against nonconference opponent Marist College.
Sophomore midfielder Haley Chow notched goals in the third and 16th minutes to build a 2-0 lead for Princeton (4-3-3, 2-0-1), and classmate Lussi took it from there — registering one first-half and two second-half goals to add to her team-leading nine goals.
The Princeton domination was comprehensive, including an 11-1 lead in first-half shots and 6-1 margin in shots on target for the game.
Fortunately for Bruno, the blowout is just its first conference loss, and the team has four Ivy contests down the stretch to turn its league standing around.
Captain Chloe Cross ’15 helped the squad put the Princeton game in the past with Monday’s contest against Marist (1-7-4, 0-2-3 Metro Atlantic). The senior booted a missile into the goal from 10 feet out in the 21st minute to give Bruno a 1-0 edge.
Despite firing off nearly twice as many shots and three times as many shots on goal as the Red Foxes, the Bears could not add to their lead and instead surrendered a late goal to Marist to tie the game. After two scoreless overtimes, the matchup ended in a 1-1 draw.
Bruno reenters Ivy play Saturday when Harvard comes to College Hill.
Men’s water polo
After enduring its first conference loss of the season Saturday in an 11-9 blunder against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the men’s water polo team rebounded with two resounding wins — a 19-11 victory over No. 16 Harvard and a 14-1 dismantling of Connecticut College.
The Bears (13-4, 7-1 Ivy) entered the weekend ranked 13th in the country thanks to a seven-game winning streak, but the upset-minded Engineers (8-9, 2-3 NEWMAC) were seeking revenge for a Sept. 28 loss to Bruno. Neither side had gained any ground after three quarters, and the score was locked at 7-7. But a three-goal quarter from MIT — one of which came as part of a four-goal second half from junior Ory Tasman — was just enough to upend the Bears.
The Bears and the Crimson (13-5, 3-3) entered play just three spots apart in the national rankings, but the game showed a much greater disparity. Harvard hung around for the first half and went into halftime tied at six, but the Crimson were no match for Bruno’s offensive onslaught in the second half. Five third-quarter goals and a staggering eight four-quarter tallies lifted the Bears to a 13-3 second-half advantage. Nick Deaver ’15 powered the Bruno offense with five goals against the Ivy rival.
Momentum from the strong second half carried into Brown’s Sunday matchup with Connecticut College (2-8, 0-2 NESCAC). The Camels could muster just a single goal, a third of the individual total amassed by leading scorer Warren Smith ’17. The throttling comes as the latest in a long line of blowouts for the Bears over Connecticut College, including three double-digit victories last season.
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