Men’s soccer stymied in 3-0 shutout at Princeton

In weekend action, the Columbia men’s soccer team was unable to build off last week’s 1-0 shutout over Penn. The Light Blue put up a strong fight but ultimately fell 3-0 to Princeton. Last time the Tigers and the Lions (3-6-1, 1-2 Ivy) clashed, the two teams were evenly matched in a scoreless first half before the Tigers (5-5-2, 1-2 Ivy) capitalized on giveaways near the Light Blue box and converted their opportunities into goals. Saturday’s match saw the Tigers recapture the same scoring spirit in their shutout. Early in the game, there were key scoring chances for each team. Columbia junior midfielder Hayden Johns rushed the goal in the fourth minute, driving a shot straight towards the Tigers’ goal and forcing goalkeeper Sean Lynch to make the save. Three minutes later, Devin Muntz and Josh Walburn both put in shots on the Light Blue goal, which Alexander Aurrichio turned away. The Tigers finally broke through in the 21st minute, when a feed up the side of the pitch connected with freshman Lester Nare, who put a perfect cross in front of the goal. Ben Harms finished the job with a header, and the Tigers were up 1-0. Even though Lions forward Bayo Adafin nearly had the equalizer in the 42nd minute, the Lions found themselves down a goal at halftime. Though the Tigers recorded two shots right after both teams returned to the field for the second half, they did not score until a long throw-in that Nare drove into the Light Blue goal to make it 2-0. A foul awarded the Tigers a penalty kick in the 87th minute, which Brandon Busch successfully converted, recording the second goal of the season scored off a penalty kick for Princeton. Busch’s tally rounded out the scoring and the Lions came away with a 3-0 loss. The Lions’ main weakness was the same in this match as in the rest of the season: making shots count. The Tigers outshot the Lions with a total of 13, and the Light Blue was only able to collect five shots during the entire contest. Of those five, just two were on goal. The Lions will take a break from league play this Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 4 p.m., as they face nonconference opponent Villanova and look to turn their fortunes around.