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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Tigers Meet Wildcats Sunday in Men's Soccer Matchup
September 18, 2010 | Men's Soccer
Princeton at Villanova
GAMETIME: Sunday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m.
2010 RECORDS: Princeton (1-2-1); Villanova (2-2-1)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads 2-1
LAST MEETING: Villanova won 1-0 on 9/12/03 at Penn
STREAK: Villanova won the last meeting
LINKS: Live Video ($9.95)
PRINCETON (9/18/10) - The Princeton men's soccer team will make the short trip down I-95 to Villanova to meet its second straight BIG EAST opponent on Sunday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m.
The game will be webstreamed on Nova Nation, but a monthly subscription will need to be purchased for a fee of $9.95.
Princeton is 2-1 against Villanova in the all-time series. The teams first met in 1999 when Princeton won the Ivy League and reached the NCAA Championship. The Tigers won that game 3-0 and followed up with another 3-0 victory on the road in 2001. Villanova won the last meeting, a 1-0 decision in the 2003 season opener at the Penn Classic. During that game, Princeton outshot Villanova 11-6 but Nova's Jonathan Lopuski scored the lone goal in the 38th minute.
Princeton is 1-2-1 on the season and played to a 1-1 draw with Georgetown on Friday night on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium. Sophomore Lester Nare scored his first goal of the season and senior captain Sean Lynch stopped seven shots, matching his career best. Princeton's midfield was boosted by the addition of senior first-team All-Ivy League Josh Walburn who made his first appearance of the season against Georgetown and had five shots.
Prior to Friday's game, the Tigers defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 1-0 in the season opener and lost one-goal games to Lehigh and American.
Junior Antoine Hoppenot is at the top of the scoring column with one goal and one assist for three points, in addition to leading the team in shots with 13. Junior Manny Sardinha, senior Brandon Busch and Benjamin Burton and Nare each have a goal for the Tigers. Sophomores Matt Sanner and Mark Linnville both have picked up an assist this season. Lynch has been the Tigers mainstay in goal and has made 20 saves on 26 shots for a 1.42 goals against average and a .769 save percentage.
Villanova arguably could be Princeton's toughest competitor thus far in the season. The Wildcats are 2-2-1 and are coming off of a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten No. 22-ranked Penn from Friday night. The Wildcats scored in the 8th minute and their defense made the score stand as Penn had a 15-11 shot and a 10-2 corner kick advantage. Goalkeeper Chris Besnahan made nine saves and freshman William Cason stepped in for an injured Chris Christian at center back.
Villanova opened the season with a 2-1 overtime victory over Bucknell, the team that ended Princeton's season in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Wildcats dropped matching 2-0 games to Drexel and George Mason and tied Lafayette 1-1.
Freshman Dylan Renna leads the team in scoring with one goal and one assist for three points. A trio of midfielders, junior Matt Margiotta and freshm3n Daniel Gonzalez and Joseph Schmid, have each scored one goal and senior defender Nick Rouzier has one assist. Sophomore defender Kyle Soroka leads the team in shots with 11, but hasn't picked up a point yet this year. Junuior Chris Bresnahan has played every minute in goal this season and has made 27 saves on 33 shots for a 1.13 goals against average and an .818 save percentage.