Men's Soccer Looking To Turn Things Around After 3-0 Loss Against Princeton

Upper West Side NY

20 October, 2021

1:28 PM

Description

Columbia Daily Spectator BY TAKASHI WILLIAMS AND REBECCA WACHEN OCTOBER 18, 2021 Columbia men's soccer came into its third Ivy League matchup of the season this Saturday still searching for its first win since Sept. 3. Despite efforts to turn things around, the Lions continued to struggle early on after a Princeton goal in the 16th minute. Things looked promising for the Light Blue (1-7-3, 0-2-1 Ivy) right from the kickoff. Similar to last week's 1-1 draw against Penn (6-3-2, 1-1-1 Ivy), it appeared as if the Lions, who maintained the majority of the possession in the first half, were going to be in control of the match against Princeton (6-5-0, 3-0-0 Ivy). With its early game dominance, the Light Blue had its first opportunity to take the lead in the eighth minute when junior midfielder Brian Timoney took a shot on Princeton goalkeeper Jack Roberts. Timoney's kick, which was perfectly aimed toward the bottom left corner of the net, lacked the power to get past Roberts. Despite the strong start, Columbia's aggression on offense did not last long. After Princeton's first shot of the game in the 14th minute, the Tigers denied Columbia any more shots on goal for the rest of the half. Princeton quickly found a way to end the 0-0 stalemate and score its first goal of the match in the 16th minute when Tiger midfielder Kevin O'Toole perfectly placed the ball to fit just under the crossbar and above the hands of leaping Columbia junior goalkeeper Michael Collodi. Following the Princeton goal, Columbia had a few chances to try to turn things around, but the team continued to struggle to get shots on goal. The Tigers earned three more shots in the first half, compared to Columbia, who did not get any more chances to get the ball past Roberts. Only down by one at the halftime break, the Lions looked to capitalize on their opportunities to tie the game back up. "Going into halftime, we did a good job of keeping possession, we did a good job of being on the ball, and I think we may have been on the ball a considerable amount more than the opponent," head coach Kevin Anderson said. "The issue came that we got caught in transition. We got caught in transition on the goal, and scenarios happened where they capitalized on their chance." While both teams remained dry coming into the locker room at halftime, the same could not be said as they entered the second half. The match, which was initially scheduled for 4 p.m., was moved an hour earlier in hopes of avoiding the storm later in the day. However, the teams were not able to avoid the storm completely. With sudden rain and wind, which only lasted for around 15 minutes, players had to adapt to the conditions. "It was pretty gusty, and it wound up being that the wind was not at our backs, it was in our face. That changed things a little bit," Anderson said. "We were playing a little bit more direct, so the ball started to hold up a little bit." With the start of the second half underway, Columbia retained most of the possession. The team monopolized the midfield with great passing but failed to execute when moving into the attacking third—which has become a recurring error for the Light Blue. The Lions only recorded one shot in 45 minutes. Sophomore forward Jake Novoshelski danced around defenders in the 50th minute to draw a foul close to the penalty box, but a misplaced header in the box from senior midfielder Sebastian Gunbeyi eluded the Light Blue's chance to tie the game. As the weather at Roberts Stadium became more intense with strong gusts of wind and rain pouring onto the field, the Lions started to face technical challenges. Senior defenseman Blake Willis slipped twice in the second half when taking a free kick, and senior defenseman Will Todd was forced to foul, stopping a dangerous transition from the Tigers resulting in his first booking of the match. The Tigers took advantage of the Lions' errors with an interception off of a Lion's free kick. The Tigers displayed quick tiki-taka movement—a method that calls for maintaining possession of the ball via short passes—into their attacking third resulting in a comfortably placed shot from O'Toole in the 68th minute that curled past Collodi. Less than 10 minutes later, the Tigers pounced on the Lions again with a deflection from Columbia's back line. This resulted in a goal from Princeton midfielder Michael Osei Wusu with a hard low shot into the corner of the net. Anderson felt that the results in the first half of this season are not indicative of the effort that his team consistently puts forth. He is optimistic going into the team's next match against Dartmouth, marking the middle of its Ivy League campaign this season. "I think you see a group of guys who work extremely hard, regardless of score, regardless of circumstance. And that I give them a ton of credit for. It would be really easy to not do that, but that's not who this group is. That's not who we are collectively," said Anderson. "I'm confident there's going to be 26 kids in that locker room on Monday and an entire coaching staff that's going to have done their homework over the weekend to prepare to go play against Dartmouth, and we're gonna put our best foot forward, like they've continued." The Lions will travel to Hanover this Saturday to face Dartmouth (1-9, 0-3) and are looking to keep the Big Green at the bottom of the Ivy League table. Kickoff will take place at Burnham Field at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Staff writer Rebecca Wachen can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @rebecca_wachen. Staff writer Takashi Williams can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @takashiversace Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.