It had been more than a month since the men's soccer team lost a game and almost two years since it lost to an Ivy League opponent, but the streak ended Saturday as the Bears dropped a 3-2 goal-swapping game to Princeton University. But Tuesday, Bruno mounted an early comeback to defeat struggling cross-town rival Providence College 3-2.
Much like its previous Ivy defeat, which came on Nov. 16, 2002, to Dartmouth College, Brown surrendered a season-high three goals. Despite many defensive and midfield lapses, the Bears still had many opportunities.
"We played well enough and created enough chances to win the game," said Head Coach Mike Noonan. "It's not what (Princeton) did to us, but what we did to ourselves."
Brown relinquished two leads due to individual breakdowns and poor communication, both of which have plagued the team several times this year.
"Their second goal they credited to one of their players, but one of our players shot it into our own net," Noonan said. "On the third goal, we had two players going for the same ball and leaving a player open on the backside, and they negated each other and the ball went to (Princeton's) leading scorer."
Brown scored early in the first half off of a free kick when Marcos Romaneiro '05 fed the ball to Andrew Daniels '07. Daniels, who also scored against Providence, has tallied goals in three straight games.
At halftime the Bears led 1-0 and held an advantage in scoring chances. But Princeton made an adjustment by bringing up an extra forward and gained offensive momentum in the second half.
"I think that it was the same problem we had (last week) with Columbia," said Ibrahim Diane '06. "We started to score goals, and we got up on them early in the game, thinking that it was going to happen, and again it backfired. Our execution just was not there."
After a Princeton goal, Brown scored to retake the lead, with Romaneiro converting on a penalty kick. The goal extended Romainero's point scoring streak to five games, which after an assist in the Providence game, now stands at six.
No more than four minutes later, Princeton evened the score yet again. Both teams continued to play hard and create opportunities, but Princeton took its first lead of the game with under 12 minutes to play.
"It was a ping-pong kind of game," said Romaneiro, who added that some mistakes in the Brown midfield allowed Princeton to put pressure on the Brown defense.
On Tuesday, the Bears fell behind early to a Providence team that had failed to score a goal in its five previous games and had yet to notch a win on the season.
Shortly after, Brown responded, registering 10 shots and two goals by halftime. Romaneiro sent a corner kick to Ben Brackett '07, who netted his first career goal. Keith Caldwell '06 scored his fourth of the season to put Brown up 2-1 before halftime.
Noonan was disappointed that Brown allowed the Friars to grab an early lead, but said he thought his team responded well.
"(The goal) was a result of a lack of concentration," Noonan said. "I was proud of the way the guys came back. We could have been up 4-2 by halftime."
Four minutes into the second half, Daniels scored what would prove to be the game winner, as Providence added a second goal with 20 minutes left to play.
The Bears finished the game with 12 shots on net, a season high, while Chris Gomez '05 registered four saves. Despite outshooting and outplaying Providence, Brown allowed the Friars to stay in the game until the end.
"For 80 percent of the game, the guys did great," Noonan said. "And again, we made it dicey because (of) individual meltdowns that are happening at critical times."
In the past three games, the Bears have boosted offensive production and increased their play in the final third of the field, but the Bears are still concerned with shoring up the team defense.
"We let up two goals against Columbia, three against Princeton and two against Providence," Diane said. "Seven in three games is a lot, and it's gotta be hard on Gomez and our defense."
Noonan echoed Diane's thoughts, but believes the defense has been left out to dry many times.
"Even though Chris has given up goals, he has played exceptionally well," Noonan said. "The rest of the team has to start focusing and make sure that Chris is not exposed. It's a young team, and with a young team, you will have inconsistent performances weather they are as a team or individual."
Ivy League competition continues for Brown Sunday as the Bears take on Harvard University at home.
"Play has to be more consistent in the midfield," Noonan said. "We really need to have a complete performance against Harvard."
