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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton-Rutgers Men's Soccer Rivalry Takes Center Stage Wednesday Night
September 19, 2006 | Men's Soccer
The rivalry between the men's soccer teams from Princeton and Rutgers has about as much history as any matchup in the college game. Princeton hopes to end recent history when the teams meet Wednesday night at Yurcak Field in Piscataway.
That recent history has seen the Scarlet Knights go 7-0-3 against the Tigers since Princeton won at Rutgers back in 1994. That recent history has seen last year's matchup at Lourie-Love Field, when Rutgers scored on a penalty kick with less than five minutes left in regulation to force a 1-1 tie and preserve its unbeaten streak in the series.
Wednesday's game will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by Patriot 8. The game will be shown on Thurs., Sept. 21, at 9 p.m.
Rutgers' 10-game unbeaten streak is the second-longest in the 51-game series between the two rivals behind Princeton's 10-0-1 mark against the Scarlet Knights between 1969-79. Princeton, celebrating its centennial season of men's soccer in 2006, has now faced Rutgers in 49 of the last 50 seasons, every season in that time except for 2004.
In 2006, Princeton (3-1-2) is just a 3-0 loss to highly-ranked Fairleigh Dickinson away from an unbeaten six-game start itself. Except for that loss to the Knights, the Tigers have trailed for just 41 of their remaining 470 minutes they've played this season. The Tigers nearly had a sweep of Duquesne and Saint Joseph's at the Penn Soccer Classic this past weekend, but a Hawk goal in the final minutes of regulation Sunday forced that game into a 1-1 tie.
The Scarlet Knights are 2-5-0 heading into Wednesday's game after a 1-0 overtime win against Georgetown Sunday at home. Chris Moore scored the golden goal for Rutgers 6:42 into the first 10-minute overtime period.
Junior Dan Cummins leads Princeton with three goals this season, while Jame Wunsch was named to the Ivy League Honor Roll Monday after scoring goals against both Duquesne and Saint Joseph's this past weekend.
Princeton coach Jim Barlow needs one victory to become just the fourth coach in team history with 80 career wins. Barlow, now in his 11th season on the bench, has a 79-69-30 overall record.
The Tigers will begin Ivy League play on Saturday, visiting Yale for a 4:30 p.m. game. The first three games of Princeton's 2006 Ivy season come against each of last season's league tri-champions (Yale, Dartmouth and Brown).