The men’s soccer team held the visiting Princeton Tigers scoreless in a 2-0 victory on Saturday night, earning its first win of the season at Ridley Athletic Complex after a rough stretch of road games. The Hounds now sit at 1-4 for the 2019 season. 

Princeton, already the fourth quality opponent Loyola has faced this year, falls to 1-2. The Hounds have also faced North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and James Madison, all of whom made the NCAA tournament a season ago. Their fourth loss was suffered against Appalachian State.

Barry Sharifi ’20 and Nico Brown ’20 scored the pair of goals for Loyola, but both came late in the second half. The first half featured little action in the half field, as Loyola outshot Princeton just 7-6. Goalie Chase Vosvick ’21 made three saves to lead the Greyhounds’ defensive effort. The scored remained 0-0, and both teams walked into the locker room empty-handed.

Loyola finally broke through the Princeton lines in the 63^rd minute when Davey Mason ’20 snuck a cross from the left side between a pair of Tiger defenders to Sharifi, who beat goalie Jacob Schachner to the spot for his second goal of the season. 

The Hounds extended their lead just over 14 minutes later. A Princeton foul led to a Justin Ingram ’21 free kick. Ingram’s well-placed volley led to an equally well-placed header by Brown into the top left corner at 76:41. The goal marked Brown’s first goal of the season and Ingram’s first point with Loyola since transferring from Virginia this summer. 

Meanwhile, Loyola’s defenders held strong on the backline. They held their opponent scoreless for the entire 90 minutes, giving up just 2 shots in the final 15 minutes after Brown’s goal. 

The score remained 2-0 until the final seconds ran out, wrapping up one of the toughest early-season schedules in the country. The 1-4 Hounds have the week off, as they rest up for Patriot League play. They host the Army Black Knights next Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m.

Photo Courtesy of Loyola Athletics.