Even though the Princeton University men’s soccer was locked in a scoreless tie at halftime against visiting Fairleigh Dickinson University last week, Josh Miller was confident that the Tigers could break the game open.

“We knew we had the potential to dominate this team and we were much better than them,” said Princeton senior defender and co-captain Miller.

“We were pretty disappointed with how slow and lackadaisical we came out in the first half. We just had to impose our will if we wanted the game.”

Princeton didn’t waste any time imposing its will after the break as senior co-captain and former Peddie School standout Brendan McSherry scored five minutes into the half.

“It definitely got us going, we wanted a goal early on in the second half, recalled Miller. He scored it pretty quickly and then we were all over them.”

Less than 10 minutes later, Miller kept things going for the Tigers, banging a rebound of a Bryan Windsor shot into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

“I am used to playing in the back line and in the past I have played center back so at left back I get to get up the field a bit,” said Miller. “I was just in the right place at the right time and it has been fun to score.”

While Princeton pulled way to a 4-1 win, Miller was disappointed to see the Tigers yield a late goal.

“It was a pretty sharp day, we are still working toward a shutout so it is kind of frustrating that we haven’t been able to get it yet,” said Miller, reflecting on the defensive effort.

“We have had a number of games where it has just been one goal, we are definitely on the way to improving.”

On Saturday against Columbia in a vital Ivy League clash, the Princeton defense was on track for a shutout as it held the Lions scoreless for more than 60 minutes. It allowed two late goals, however, in a 2-0 loss.

The defeat to the Lions snapped an unbeaten string for Princeton, which was 2-0-1 in its three games prior to Saturday and was looking to emulate its strong finish in 2014 when it went 8-0-1 in its last nine contests.

While Miller is confident that Princeton can produce a late surge, he acknowledges that the 2015 campaign has been frustrating at times.

“I definitely feel like we have it in us,” said Miller.  “This year we have been on the same pace as last year with a pretty slow start but I think it has been more disappointing this year because we had played better this year and we have been better than the teams and we haven’t been getting results.

While the result against FDU gave Princeton head coach Jim Barlow the 150th win of his Princeton career, his focus was squarely on the task at hand.

“It feels about the same as 149, that’s it,” said Barlow, a former Tiger men’s soccer star who is in his 20th season guiding his alma mater.

“It is the least of my concerns, not in the middle of the season. Maybe at some point you look back but we are just trying to get it going now.”

Barlow liked the way his team got it going in the second half against FDU.

“We are good when we have energy,” said Barlow.

“We are good when we are defending with energy, when we are getting forward with numbers, and when we are on the run. All of our passing was stationary passing in the first half; we connected some passes but we didn’t really get that many good chances. For us, the biggest thing at halftime was to come out with more energy in the second half and be on the move. I thought the guys did a good job of responding.”

Moving Miller up the field to outside back has proven to be a plus for the Tigers.

“Josh is a valuable guy; he was doing so well at center back,” said Barlow.

“But we felt like with him at left back and Patrick Barba in the middle, switching it might have helped both of them get into a spot where they can even give us more. Josh has done a really good job of contributing to the attack as part of the back four and Patrick has been rock solid back there in the middle.”

Barlow is hoping that his squad can produce a really good finish like it did in 2014 but he realizes that it won’t be easy.

“We definitely feel we have it in us but we also know from last year how difficult it was and how we got some breaks last year and some things fell our way in a bunch of games,” said Barlow, whose team plays at Harvard on October 24.

“We have to worry about what we can control and bring it every day. We don’t have that many more opportunities and we have got to be at our best for 90 minutes in all of these games down the stretch.”

Miller, for his part, is ready to bring it hard to the end of his Tiger career. “My approach is to just let everyone take ownership when they can and push the right buttons,” said Miller.

“It is hard to come out with intensity every game and every practice. It is our job to set the tone and be the role models. We need to make sure that we are not taking any breaks and just trying to get better every day throughout the season.”