Tigers Travel to New York City for Ivy League Matchup with Columbia

Saturday, October 19

New York, N.Y.

4:00 PM

Princeton University

Columbia

Tigers Travel to New York City for Ivy League Matchup with Columbia

October 18, 2024 | Men's Soccer

Princeton (5-5, 2-1) vs. Columbia (1-8-1, 1-1-1)
October 19 (Sat.) | 4:00 p.m. | New York, N.Y.
Live Stats | ESPN+

PRINCETON, N.J. – Returning to Ivy League action, the Princeton men's soccer team will travel up I-95 to face the Columbia Lions on Saturday night in New York City. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.

About the Tigers

Princeton enters Saturday after dropping its last two contests at home, most recently falling 1-0 to Army on Tuesday. Despite the Tigers outshooting the Black Knights 21-7, Army found the lone goal of the game off a penalty, taking the win in Roberts Stadium.
Before Army, Princeton lost 1-0 to no. 20 Cornell last Saturday in another close battle at home.
The Tigers' last win came on the road in Providence on October 5, as Princeton defeated Brown 2-1 with goals from Daniel Ittycheria and Will Francis.
The win at Brown helped the Tigers to their first 2-0 start to Ivy League play since 2021, with Princeton's other Ivy League victory over Harvard on September 28th.
Ittycheria and Francis have proven to be a dangerous combination in the box, as the Tigers have seen three games so far in which both junior forwards scored.
Ittycheria leads the Tiger offense with five goals on the season and one assist for 11 points.
Francis is behind him with three goals, while sophomore Kevin Kelley has two goals and an assist on the season.
Three other Tigers have also found the back of the net this season, including senior captain Harry Roberts, sophomore forward Ian Nunez and junior defender Giuliano Whitchurch.
Jack Jasinski leads the Tigers in assists with four on the season.
Senior captain Khamari Hadaway has taken the majority of matches in goal for Princeton, registering 19 saves and one shutout across seven games.
Sophomore Andrew Samuels has seen action in three games, recording one shutout and seven saves on the season.
The Tigers are tied for 15th nationally in corner kicks, registering an average of 6.30 per game.

About the New Tigers

The Tigers' Class of 2028 was ranked the no. 13 recruiting class by TopDrawerSoccer, including Cyrus Klinenberg (No. 77), Kristian Kelley (No. 82), Roka Tsunehara (No. 113), Dash Papez (No. 116), and Nathan Salerno.
The Tiger newcomers are already making significant contributions to the Orange and Black's success. Tsunehara has started seven of the Tigers' nine games, while freshmen Kelley has one start to his credit after seeing action in five games.
Tsunehara was named to the TopDrawerSoccer preseason All-Freshman team on August 20. The Burlingame, Calif., native was the 2022 MLS Next U16 National MVP. He was also a leading scorer for the San Jose Earthquakes U17 team as they reached the semifinals of the MLS Next cup in 2023.
A pair of new Tigers hail from the D.C. United academy system, as Papez and Zhang led their team to win the U16 MLS Next Cup Playoffs while making deep runs in both his U15 and U17 years.
Freshman goalkeeper Salerno comes to Princeton after playing with the Columbus Crew II and helping secure key victories in the MLS Next Pro playoffs.

About Coach Barlow

Head coach Jim Barlow is in his 28th season as the men's soccer head coach and has accumulated 215 career wins with the Tigers, the most for any soccer coach in Princeton history, men's or women's. Barlow was also named the 2021 Ivy League Coach of the Year.

About Columbia

Columbia is 1-8-1 on the season and 1-1-1 in Ivy League play, most recently drawing Dartmouth 2-2 on the road in New Hampshire last Saturday.
The Lions' first win came on October 5 against Yale with Jackson ten Oever scoring the lone goal in the 1-0 Columbia victory.
In a schedule that featured #22 Seton Hall and Ivy rival #20 Penn, Columbia went 0-7 to start the season before defeating Yale. Since then, the Lions are 1-1-1 in their last three games, winning against Yale, losing 3-2 to Villanova, and tying Dartmouth.
Ten Oever and Jack McDaid are tied with four points on the season to lead the Lion offense, each scoring two goals so far.
Dean Kelliher and Alexander O'Brien have split the majority of games between the posts for the Lions. Junior Kelliher, who took both the win over Yale and draw with Dartmouth in goal, has 11 saves and one shutout to his credit across five games. O'Brien has 14 saves across four games.
Princeton is 11-4-7 all-time against Columbia and 4-2-4 on the road, dating back to 2001.
The last matchup between the two sides was a 4-0 Tiger win last season, Princeton's only Ivy win of 2023. Ittycheria scored two goals in the contest, while Nunez and Francis each added another.
The last match on the road in New York City was a 1-1 draw in 2022, with Ittycheria assisting James Wangsness for the Tiger goal.