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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Princeton Extends Unbeaten Streak with 3-2 Win Over Harvard
October 26, 2014 | Men's Soccer
PRINCETON, N.J. (10/25/14) - Senior Cameron Porter scored twice and junior Brendan McSherry had a goal and an assist as the Princeton men's soccer team handed Harvard its first Ivy League loss of the season in a 3-2 victory on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium. The win extends the Tigers' unbeaten streak to five, and moves Princeton within two points of first-place in the Ivy League standings.
Princeton (7-3-3, 2-1-1) had a 3-0 lead, scoring two goals after a red card was given to Thomas Sanner in the 37th minute. Down a player the Tigers managed to score twice more on a Harvard (8-4-1, 2-1-1) team that has relented just three goals in three Ivy games.
"It was a real character-check game tonight," said Princeton head coach Jim Barlow. "We were down a man early in the first half, against a team that hadn't lost in nine games and ended up going ahead by two more goals. So we didn't get rattled by the red card, we picked it up, we got two more goals. We knew at a certain point they were going to throw the kitchen sink at us, and when they did, we bent but we didn't break. The guys deserve a lot of credit. It was a hard game to play, and they had to cover more ground than they usually do and take care of more responsibilities being down a guy and they responded really well in a game that meant a lot and I'm really proud of them."
Dartmouth moves into first place in the league with nine points after a 1-0 overtime victory over Columbia. Harvard and Princeton are in a tie for second place with seven points, and Penn and Cornell have six points with just three league games remaining.
McSherry put Princeton on the board in the 35th minute on a restart. Porter was fouled about 20 yards out and McSherry delivered a beautifully bent ball into the back of the net, his second tally of the season.
The Ivy League leading scorer Porter added his 10th and 11th goals of the season. The first came on a penalty kick in the 43rd minute when he converted his fifth of five PKs. The deciding goal came just minutes into the second half, in the 49th minute as Porter got help from junior Nico Hurtado and McSherry. Harvard attempted to clear the ball away but senior Joe Saitta stopped progress at the midfield line and pushed the ball to McSherry. McSherry found Hurtado amid the chaos and he saw Porter open on the left side. Porter raced towards the top of the 18 and sent a low shot into the opposite corner.
Harvard started to put a lot of pressure on the Princeton defense in the final 30 minutes.
Christian Sady ended Ben Hummel's clean sheet with a goal in the 60th minute. With Porter's jersey being tugged at midfield, he lost the ball and while looking for a foul Harvard played on. Oliver White got the ball and sent it to the right touchline to Andrew Wheeler-Ominu in front of the Princeton bench. Wheeler-Ominu crossed the ball to Sady and he headed into past Hummel.
The Crimson's second goal came on a penalty kick when Greg Seifert was called for a take down in the box. It was Tim Schmoll who converted in the 80th minute.
Both Hummel and Evan Mendez made a terrific save apiece. Hummel's was on a Schmoll shot in the 23rd minute as Hummel made the diving stop. Mendez made a save on the ground right at the goal line on a shot by Mark Romanowski off a Princeton corner kick in the 25th minute.
Princeton had a slim 14-13 edge in shots and had a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks. Hummel finished the game with two saves and Mendez with one, as both teams had four shots on goal.
Princeton travels to face Cornell next Saturday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m.