#18 Tigers Set to Open Ivy Play at Dartmouth

#18 Princeton (5-1-2) vs Dartmouth (2-3-1)
September 26 (Sat.) | 6 p.m. | Hanover, N.H.
Live Stats | ESPN+

PRINCETON, N.J. – After going 7-0 in conference play last year, the defending champion No. 18 Princeton men's soccer team is set to open its 2026 Ivy League campaign on the road at Dartmouth on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in Hanover, N.H.

Last Time Out
The Tigers are coming off a scoreless draw against Seton Hall on Tuesday night at home. With dueling goalkeepers, Andrew Samuels made six saves to tally his fifth shutout of the season.

Before that, Princeton pulled off a gritty road win at #24 Bryant on Saturday, in which the Tigers converted on two penalty kicks to win 2-1.

In The Rankings
Princeton was picked 18th in last week's United Soccer Coaches poll.

In the RPI rankings, the Tigers currently sit at 17th.

Between The Posts
With five to his credit, Samuels is tied for national leader in shutouts.

His save percentage of 0.892 and a GAA of 0.50 rank fourth and sixth in the nation, respectively.

Samuels has led Princeton to a team national ranking of second in save percentage, fourth in GAA, and fourth in shutout percentage.

He has earned Ivy League Player of the Week honors twice so far this season.

Stat Leaders
Bardia Hormozi ranks seventh nationally in shots per game and leads the Tigers with 11 points on the season. With four goals and three assists, he also leads the Ivy League in shots per game and is second in goals scored.

With three assists apiece, Hormozi and Roka Tsunehara are tied for fourth in the league.

Picking Up Where They Left Off
The Tigers were picked to finish first in the Ivy League Preseason Poll with 14 first-place votes.

The favorite pick comes after a historically successful 2025 season that saw them claim both the Ivy League regular season and Ivy League tournament championship titles. Princeton went 7-0-0 in league play while conceding zero goals, posting an overall record of 15-2-2.

The Tigers were seeded third in the NCAA Tournament, marking the highest seed ever for an Ivy League team. They also led the nation in RPI for a majority of last season.

Ahead of this season, Princeton was ranked eighth in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. Most recently, the Tigers were ranked 16th in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll.

Keep An Eye Out
Samuels, 2025 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, returns for his senior season after leading the nation in goals-against, save-percentage and shutouts for most of last season. He was named to the United Soccer Coaches Goalkeepers to Watch List this preseason.

Junior defender Tsunehara was also named to the United Soccer Coaches Defenders to Watch List.

Newcomer Julien Lacher was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Freshman Team. Samuels joined him in the TDS honors after being named the goalkeeper on the Best XI First Team.

All-Ivy Returners
The Tigers return several 2025 All-Ivy honorees in Samuels, First Team All-Ivy honoree and Ivy Defensive POTY, First Team All-Ivy honoree Hormozi, Second Team All-Ivy honorees Tsunehara and Liam Beckwith, and All-Ivy Honorable Mention Dash Papez.

Samuels and Tsunehara were also United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-Region honorees.

Called Up
An Ivy-record four Tigers were drafted at the conclusion of last season. Hormozi and Samuels were two of the four, with Samuels selected in the second round by St. Louis City SC and Hormozi selected in the second round by Minnesota United FC.

The Tigers graduated first-round pick Giuliano Fravolini Whitchurch, who currently plays with LAFC II, and Jack Jasinski, who was drafted by and currently plays for the San Jose Earthquakes. Two other Tigers from last year's squad are also playing professionally in Sam Vigilante (MNUFC II) and Daniel Ittycheria (Vancouver Whitecaps II).

Captains
Samuels and Beckwith are at the helm of the 2026 squad.

About Coach Barlow
Head coach Jim Barlow is in his 30th season as the men's soccer head coach and has accumulated 242 career wins with the Tigers, the most for any soccer coach in Princeton history, men's or women's. Barlow was also named the 2025 Ivy League Coach of the Year and the 2025 Northeast Region Coach of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches.

He is the ninth longest tenured active head coach in NCAA D1 men's soccer, the longest tenured AHC in Ivy League men's soccer, and the fifth-longest in the Ivy League across all sports.

Scouting Dartmouth
The Big Green is 2-3-1 on the season and coming off a big 3-1 win over Vermont last Saturday.

Eidur Baldvinsson leads Dartmouth with two goals, while Trenton Blake matches him in points with four from one goal and two assists.

TJ Jeffreys has been in goal for all six of Dartmouth's contests so far, allowing five goals while tallying two shutouts on the season for a GAA of 0.83 and save percentage of 0.783.

The last meeting between the Tigers and the Big Green came a year ago in Princeton, in which the Tigers took a 1-0 win to clinch the Ivy League regular season championship title.

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Players Mentioned

Liam Beckwith

Giuliano Fravolini Whitchurch

Bardia Hormozi

Daniel Ittycheria

Jack Jasinski

Julien Lacher

Dash Papez

Andrew Samuels

Roka Tsunehara

Sam Vigilante

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