MYLES TO GO: Princeton University men’s soccer player Myles McGinley, left, goes after a ball in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior midfielder/defender and tri-captain McGinley contributed an assist as Princeton edged Penn 3-2 to stay alive in the Ivy League title race. The Tigers moved to 10-3-3 overall and 4-1-1 Ivy with the win, remaining tied for first with Dartmouth (10-4-2 overall, 4-1-1 Ivy). Princeton wraps up regular season play with a game at Yale on November 15. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Myles McGinley relishes being a jack-of-all-trades for the Princeton University men’s soccer team.

“It is wherever the team needs me and I have prided myself on being a bit of a utility player,” senior midfielder/defender and tri-captain McGinley.

“I have done that my whole career. Since youth, I have played a lot of positions so it is nothing new for me. I am just happy to be on the field.”

McGinley’s final regular season game on the field at Robert Stadium last Saturday had a happy ending as Princeton edged Penn 3-2 to stay alive in the Ivy League title race as the Tigers moved to 10-3-3 overall and 4-1-1 Ivy, tied for first with Dartmouth (10-4-2 overall, 4-1-1 Ivy).

“There was a lot of nostalgia, I am pretty sad to see my last home game,” said McGinley, a 5’8, 160-pound native of Oakton, Va.

“We won, which is awesome. We really won for the two guys who are injured tonight, Andrew Mills and Joe Saitta. Mills is another captain and Saitta has been a guy in the back all season. We missed both of them but we are really happy to get the win.”

McGinley was involved in the first goal of the evening, picking up an assist on a tally by classmate Cameron Porter.

“I nicked it off of a guy who was under pressure and passed it to McSherry, who did a brilliant one-touch to Cam, who beat the keeper from a pretty tight angle,” said McGinley, who now has a team-high five assists on the season. “We were off to the races from there.”

Although Princeton raced out to a 3-1 lead, the Quakers got a late first half goal to turn the contest into a nail-biter.

“They play with three guys up top and their dangerous plays came from a forward dropping back into the midfield which we were having trouble picking up,” said McGinley.

“In the second half I dropped back a little more and paid attention to their forward dropping into the midfield and we neutralized it from there.”

With the win extending Princeton’s unbeaten streak to 7-0-1, McGinley feels that the squad has been displaying a sense of urgency.

“I think it is just a mentality among the guys,” said McGinley. “Since the loss to Dartmouth, we have had the mentality that the next game could be our last real one. We have had some really good leadership, not just from the seniors but throughout all of the classes. We have really been able to keep that mentality going, it is awesome. I think that is really the key to our success so far.”

Princeton head coach Jim Barlow credits the team’s seniors with setting a winning tone.

“It is a big class,” said Barlow, whose Class of 2015 includes Julian Griggs, Alex Wettermann, Samuel Suskind, Cole McCracken, and A.J. Swoboda in addition to Mills, Saitta, Porter, and McGinley.

“We have got guys who have dealt with injuries over the years, we have walk-ons in that class. They have found a way to all provide very good leadership. Whether on the field, on the reserve team, or injured, the whole group has found a way to keep the team together. We got off to a rocky start and we had a bunch of injuries early but the senior class did a good job of keeping things together.”

The Tigers held things together as they thwarted a dangerous Penn squad over the last 45 minutes of the contest. “At halftime, you got the feeling that the game was going to be 9-8 or something like that. I thought we did a pretty good job of getting it settled down in the second half,” said Barlow.

“We don’t play many teams whose attacking guys are as dangerous and crafty as Penn’s. All three of the attacking guys, Alec Neumann, Duke Lacroix, and Forrest Clancy, are very clever, good players and can make things happen. I thought our guys did a good job of dealing with their major threats in the second half.”

Barlow thought McGinley did a good job of dealing with a last-minute position switch.

“Myles was scheduled to be the right back today until Mills went down in warmup and then we had to throw him in the midfield, which is something he wasn’t even expecting,” said Barlow. “I thought he did a very good job.”

McGinley’s mentality reflects the qualities that have helped Princeton produce its late surge.

“We think this team has the mentality and attitude to deal with adversity and stick together and have the belief that we are going to find a way,” said Barlow.

“It helps when you have guys who can make goals out of nothing. Cam is one of those guys and Thomas Sanner can score. Nico Hurtado had a great goal today. In that way, it is a special group and we are hoping that we can keep it going a while longer.”

With the Tigers wrapping up regular season play at Yale (1-12-3 overall, 0-5-1 Ivy) on November 15, Barlow hopes that won’t be Princeton’s last game.

“We feel at this point that we control our own destiny,” said Barlow. “If we win, we are co-champs at worst with Dartmouth. I would hope we would be in good shape for an at-large bid. You just don’t know what the committee is going to do. If you had asked at the start of the year, I would have said that 10 wins would have been enough.”

McGinley, for his part, isn’t ready for his senior season to end. “I think it is every senior’s dream to win it going out and we have, in my opinion, quite a talented class,” said McGinley.

“To not get any sort of silverware or not get any tangible results in our four years would be a shame so we are hoping to beat Yale and take a share of the Ivy League, if not win it outright. Hopefully the other two teams in contention will drop points next week. It is in our hands and hopefully we will get a bid to the tournament.”