BOOT CAMP: Princeton University men’s soccer player Greg Seifert boots the ball in action last fall. Senior defender Seifert provides experience and athleticism to the Tiger back line. Princeton opens it 2016 campaign on September 3 when it plays at West Virginia (1-1). (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Even though the Princeton University men’s soccer team has posted double-digit win seasons in the last two years, it has been left with an empty feeling.

In 2014, Princeton went 11-3-3 overall and 5-1-1 Ivy League and tied Dartmouth for the Ivy title but didn’t get the chance to play in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers fell to the Big Green in their head-to-head matchup and the selection committee snubbed Princeton, not inviting it to the tourney as an at-large selection.

Last fall, the Tigers went 10-5-2 overall and 3-3-1 Ivy with two one-goal league losses dooming their chances for the Ivy crown and an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney.

In the view of Princeton head coach Jim Barlow, the frustration over the near misses has fueled his players with extra motivation as they have been going through their preseason training.

“I think having had two really good seasons the last two years but not getting into the tournament is disappointing,” said Barlow.

“This is only the second time or the third time in history where we have had back-to-back double digit win years. Princeton has never done it three years in a row so I think the guys are hungry to try get that and get to the tournament, that is what the guys want to do.”

Barlow faces a problem that would be the envy of many coaches, having to figure out how to deploy the logjam of good players on his roster.

“There is also an incredible amount of depth and parity on the team right now,” said Barlow, a 1991 Princeton grad and former Tiger star who is entering the 21st season at the helm of his alma mater, having posted a 155-138-50 record with four Ivy crowns.

“It is going to be a very difficult job figuring out the lineup and figuring out everyone’s responsibility and we don’t have much more time to do that. It is a good, deep talented group.”

Starting the 2016 campaign by playing at West Virginia (1-1) on September 3 and then hosting St. John’s (0-0-1) on September 8, the Tigers face some critical tests out of the gate.

“A lot of it can come down to how you do in your non-league games and we know how important they are,” added Barlow.

“It is hard when we are trying to put the pieces together and they are so close together.”

In Barlow’s view, the Tigers have some good pieces at forward as sophomore Jeremy Colvin (2 goals and 4 assists in 2015), sophomore Sean McSherry (1 assist), and junior Daniel Bowkett (3 goals, 4 assists) will look to fill the void left by the graduation of Thomas Sanner, the 2015 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year with 13 goals and five assists.

“Jeremy Colvin has emerged as a center forward, he was really good up there in the spring; he is just a handful, he gets on the end of everything,” said Barlow, noting that junior Harry Heffernan (1 goal) and sophomore Will Lentz are also in the mix at forward.

“He runs, he chases defenders down, and he has got pretty good mobility for his size. He has good feet and he seems to have a knack for being in the right spot. Sean McSherry has been playing well as the right wing, we used him at right back last year. He has got incredible speed and I think his ability to get behind defenses and stretch defenses out is something we need up there. Dan Bowkett has been playing up front on the left side. Right now Colvin, McSherry, and Bowkett have been three forwards who have done well.”

In the midfield, the Tigers feature a number of players who can do well.

“We have a lot of experience in the midfield in Brian Costa (1 assist), Vikram Pothuri (2 assists), Matt Mangini, Bryan Windsor (1 assist), and there is a freshman, Ben Martin, who has been doing well,” said Barlow.

“Those five guys have been solid. I think the way we are going to play is up tempo and high energy and it is nice to be able to go to the bench and have guys who are experienced and can keep the level very high when they go into the game. We are not sure who is going to be starting and who is going to be coming off the bench.”

A trio of seniors, Greg Seifert (1 assist), Patrick Barba (1 assist), and Mark Romanowski (1 assist), will spearhead the back line.

“We have those three guys, Seifert, Barba, and Romanowski who have played a lot,” said Barlow.

“We have Nick Badalamenti (1 goal, 2 assists), who is a junior. Henry Martin is a sophomore who played on the under-20 national team last year. He came in and played well for us at the end of his freshman season last year. We have a freshman named Benji Issroff, who has done really well in preseason so far. We do have some depth in the back too.”

Barlow is looking for senior goalie Josh Haberman (0.00 goals against average in four appearances in 2015) to end his career on a high note.

“At one point last year Haberman won the starting spot and then got hurt,” said Barlow, noting that he has a senior walk-on Steffen Seitz along with promising freshmen Jacob Schachner and Mohamed Abdelhamid backing up Haberman.

“We were in Florida against FIU and we started him. He took a goal kick and injured himself. He wasn’t quite the same for the next month or so. He has been really sharp so far and he is projected to be our guy.”

Being tougher around goal is a major priority for the Tigers this fall as they look to get over the hump and return to the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2010.

“Last year we felt like we gave too many soft goals on restarts and goals against the run of play,” said Barlow.

“We scored way more than any other team in the league last year but when we went back and looked at the film of games and the kind of goals we gave up, we felt that so many of them were preventable. We didn’t do well defending restarts and committed too many silly fouls. We are trying to clean up all of that and make sure that playing up tempo and aggressive and high energy doesn’t lead to silly fouls in our end or lead us to vacate parts of the field in the back.”

Taking care of intangibles along with attention to detail are two additional themes of the preseason.

“I think the other priority is that we lost a large senior group,” said Barlow.

“Patrick Barba is going to be the captain this year but I think we are going to need to reestablish the leadership and the team mentality and the competitiveness. That part seems pretty good so far but it is always pretty good until you make a lineup and some guys aren’t in the lineup and you see how everyone still manages to put the team first and come together as a group. It comes down to little details. I think we are going to have a solid team but I think every team in the league is going to be solid too. We are excited; it has been a good start.”

In facing West Virginia this Saturday, the Tigers will need to show a lot of competitive fire to come away with a victory.

“They are a really tough, strong team that has been together for a while now,” said Barlow.

“They have already got two games under their belt; they have had a longer preseason. We beat them in OT last year; we thought they were very good. They are athletic and good at stretching you out. We don’t know too many specifics about their team yet because they just started this weekend but we are expecting them to be really strong.”