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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
American
Cummins, Oppenheimer Lead Men's Soccer to 1-0 Win Over American
September 08, 2006 | Men's Soccer
Princeton men's soccer players Dan Cummins and Justin Oppenheimer may have entered the 2006 season somewhat unheralded. Three games into the year, the combination is a big reason why the Tigers remain undefeated.
Cummins scored his second goal in as many games, five minutes into the second half after a restart near midfield, and Oppenheimer made five saves, including three of the diving variety, as Princeton held on to defeat American 1-0 Friday night at Lourie-Love Field to improve to 2-0-1 through three games.
The Tigers, off to their best start since the 2001 season, were even at halftime thanks to Oppenheimer, who made diving stops on shots by Larry Mark and Phil Purdy within a 30-second span 13 minutes into the game. Then, 5:27 into the second half, Cummins scored the game winner in the box, taking a deflection off Devin Muntz and drilling a low shot past American goalie Chris Sedlak into the lower right corner of the net.
"Jame (Wunsch) hit a great ball into the box and Devin did a good job of controlling it," said Cummins, a junior who had not scored a goal prior to this season. "I got it on my feet, and I'll had to do was give it a chance to go in."
American (2-3-0) pressured in the final 15 minutes, but Oppenheimer made another great stop with six minutes left to keep the score 1-0. AU's Cooper Bryant had a chance on the left side of the box, but the Princeton goalie dove to his right and stopped the low shot to preserve the shutout.
"American made it tough for us all night but we really competed well in the second half and took advantage of a restart to get a goal," said Princeton coach Jim Barlow. "Justin had his third straight good game in goal and obviously made a huge difference in the result tonight."
The Princeton goalie had five saves overall to earn his second shutout of the year. AU outshot the Tigers 12-9, including 6-3 in the second half.
The Tigers, who defeated the Eagles for the second straight season, got two chances from Kyle McHugh and one from Cummins in the first half before heading into halftime with a scoreless tie. In addition to the early chances, AU had a late chance in the final two minutes of the half, but Sal Caccavale's free kick near the top of the box was blocked by the Princeton wall.
Princeton also started the 2001 season 2-0-1 through three games. The Tigers visit Fairleigh Dickinson Tuesday afternoon in the first of six straight games away from Lourie-Love Field.