DEFENSIVE WEAPON: Princeton University men’s soccer player Roka Tsunehara controls the ball in a game last fall. Junior defender Tsunehara, a second-team All-Ivy League selection last fall when he tallied one goal and four asssits, figures to be a key performer again on the back line for the Tigers. Princeton, ranked eighth in the United Soccer Coaches’ preseason poll, kicks off its 2026 campaign by hosting Villanova (2-0) on August 28 and No. 6 Portland (0-0-1) on August 31. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Having made history last year when it rolled to the Ivy League regular season title and then won the Ivy tournament on the way to earning the No. 3 seed in the NCAA tourney, the Princeton University men’s soccer team has a target on its back
this fall.
“I think the guys know everyone wants to beat us,” said Princeton head coach Jim Barlow, who guided the Tigers to a 15-2-2 overall record in 2025 and the second round of the NCAA tournament. “All of the teams we played last year are back on our schedule this year. All of them want to beat us badly.”
While the program will miss the 11 seniors who helped spark last year’s memorable campaign, that group is leaving a special legacy.
“There were so many good leaders in that group, they set the tone for what the culture was going to be like day-to-day and how competitive the environment was going to be,” said Barlow. “That is something that they left with this group. There are some good starting points in all of those areas too, just trying to make sure that every day is an opportunity to improve and that we are going to compete all of the time.”
Barlow likes the compete level he has been seeing from his squad as it has
gone through preseason training.
“I think it has gone pretty well so far,” said Barlow, whose team was ranked eighth in the United Soccer Coaches’ preseason poll and kicks off its 2026 campaign by hosting Villanova (2-0) on August 28 and No. 6 Portland (0-0-1) on August 31. “We scrimmaged Columbia and Penn on Saturday and I was a little bit worried that graduating so many guys that we wouldn’t be as nearly deep as we were last year. But I think the positive sign was that our decisions are going to be really hard because there are a lot of guys that are very close to each other. The first year guys all looked very comfortable with college soccer.”
Acknowledging that Princeton lost a lot of talent with the exit of the Class of 2026, Barlow believes the cupboard isn’t bare heading into this fall.
“We do have some big shoes to fill with the guys who graduated but we also have a decent amount of guys returning who got a lot of minutes last year,” said Barlow. “We have two guys who got drafted in the MLS draft (goalie Andrew Samuels, forward/midfielder Bardia Hormozi) who decided to come back, so there are some very talented guys on the team this year too.”
The Tigers boast a lot of talent in the attacking end with senior Hormozi (6 goals, 4 assists in 2025), sophomore Jackson Martin (3 goals), senior Ian Nunez (2 assists), senior Kevin Kelley (2 goals, 3 assists), junior Cyrus Klinenberg, and sophomore Giacomo Gabrielli.
“Bardia played some at forward in the scrimmages and some in the midfield, he did well at both spots,” said Barlow. “I think he will probably see some time in both spots. He has a good engine, he can dribble and he is dangerous. He has got some pace. He has got a lot of tools that we can use in the middle or up front. I think we are probably deepest in the attacking position with guys like Kevin, Ian, and Jackson. Cyrus has gotten better each year, he has got time in his first two years. Giacomo got some time last year.”
A trio of freshmen, Julien Lacher, Noah Hammerschmidt, and Jonah Mwilambwe, figure to get time up front.
“Julien is a really good dribbler, he is a really talented one-on-one player,” said Barlow of Lacher, who was named to TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason All-Freshman team. “He can get the ball in wide positions and be isolated on a defender, can go to his left and can go to his right. His acceleration on his first step is great. He is going to be a handful for teams to deal with based on the fact that we have some very talented defenders and he has been a handful for them to deal with. Noah did well too, he has a really clever left foot. He can dribble, shoot and pass. He has the ability to see passes that not everyone can see and make that final pass. He has the ability to get shots off too. He can also play in the midfield or up front. Our center forward Jonah had a good goal against Penn.”
In the midfield, senior Liam Beckwith (2 goals, 5 assists) brings offensive and defensive ability.
“Liam is a key player and a key leader, he and Andrew are our two captains,” said Barlow. “He is comfortable in the defensive midfield position or the box to box midfield position. He can play in the attacking midfield position. He is a good connector and a good passer. He has got a really good engine. He and Cyrus finished really strong in our fitness test on the first day. Those two guys can do a ton of running.”
Several other guys including sophomore Tyler Vilet, junior Garry Zhang, freshman Chase Miller, and sophomore Ben Manfroy should get runs in the midfield.
“Tyler is athletic, good in the air, covers ground, and has good mobility,” said Barlow. “Garry is a guy who has played a lot in the midfield for us. There is a first year guy, Chase, he is not the biggest guy size-wise but he is so mobile and so able to get around. He has got good feet and makes connections. I think he is going to contribute in the midfield as well. Ben is a another guy that can make some big contributions in the midfield.”
On defense, junior Roka Tsunehara, a second-team All-Ivy League selection last fall when he tallied one goal and four assists, will be leading the way.
“Roka is so versatile, he is such a good attacker and defender,” said Barlow. “He has done really well for us, a wide back as a starting point. We also give him a lot of freedom to go where he needs to go to impact the game. He has a good engine, he is good with both feet. He can play on the left or the right. He is smart, he anticipates plays well. He is just a really good all-around player.”
The quintet of sophomore Frederik Sadjak, junior Dash Papez, senior Sebastian Swary, freshman Lucas Ferreira, and sophomore Tyler Austin will join Tsunehara on the back line.
“Freddy is athletic, he is big, he is good in the air,” said Barlow.
“For his size, he has really good feet. He can pass out of the back over distance. He and Dash have really been doing a good job at center back. Sebastian is solid too. Our freshman Lucas is a big, athletic center back. He is good in the air and has great athleticism. He is off to a great start. The guy who was really solid in the scrimmages was Tyler. He didn’t get much time at all last year but he is a wide back who scored a goal in the scrimmage against Columbia and had a really good day.”
Goalkeeper Samuels, the Ivy Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 when he compiled a goals against average of 0.37 and a save percentage of 0.897 with 15 shutouts including not yielding a goal in league regular season action, gives Princeton a really good last line of defense.
“Obviously he is a great goalkeeper in terms of making plays,” said Barlow, whose backup goalies are junior Nathan Salerno and freshman Viktor Alestig. “He makes them look so much easier than they are with his positioning, his alertness and his awareness. But the other thing that
is just huge about Andrew is how he keeps our team so organized. He is just able to keep track of everything on front of him so that if
a player misses someone
in his blind spot or is too far away from the next guy or too close to the next
guy he is just so good at noticing all of these things before they become problems. His communication and his ability to see things and get the message to
who needs the message is really special.”
The Princeton players aren’t about to get their heads turned by being ranked in the Top 10 nationally as they head into the fall.
“I think the guys have a good mentality in that they just get after it every day,” said Barlow. “They don’t care about what people are saying or about what our ranking is. They know how meaningless that is before the season starts. It is all based on last year. This is a completely new team and we have to prove ourselves all over again and I think the guys are excited to get after it again.”
The opening week matchups against Villanova and Portland will give the Tigers the chance to prove themselves against some tough foes.
“We are excited to start the year at home and have a couple really good home games and hopefully get good crowds,” said Barlow.
“Portland is perennially in the Top 10 and was one of the best teams in the country last year. I have heard that they are even better this year. We are not going to worry about them until the Villanova game ends. We are going to have our hands full with them too. We will spend some time this week watching their first couple of games. The first couple of games are always hard for us physically. We got a lot more confidence in our depth this weekend. We feel like we can go to our bench and feel like the level is going to stay very high.”