BALTIMORE — The partisan crowd at the men's lacrosse game at Homewood Field on Saturday had issues. It took umbrage with the referees, struggled with security and got downright disgruntled with the Johns Hopkins chamber band.
But what made the fans positively livid was the fact that their No. 3 ranked Blue Jays (0-1) were getting handled by visiting No. 4 Princeton (1-0). Junior attackman Matt Striebel scored four goals and junior goalie Trevor Tierney piled up 22 saves, as the Tigers made quite a statement in their 15-11 opening-day victory.
From the moment freshman attackman Sean Hartofilis scored his first collegiate goal to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead, Princeton seemed in control. Every Hopkins rally was met by an immediate and greater scoring run from the Tigers, as Princeton's offense often seemed to score at will.
Consider the Blue Jays' biggest rally, which brought them to within one goal at 7-6 with 13 minutes, 16 seconds to play in the third quarter:
As though they just hadn't been in the mood for scoring, the Tiger offense reawakened to take a commanding lead in the game.
Sophomore midfielder Kyle Baugher won the face-off that followed Hopkins' sixth tally and flipped to a fast-moving Striebel. Striebel quickly found sophomore attack B.J. Prager open to the left of the Blue Jay goal on the edge of the crease. Prager flipped a nifty shot past Hopkins' All-American goalie Brian Carcaterra to put Princeton ahead by two once again.
One face off, two passes, one shot, one goal. The whole play took seven seconds.
It was the first of four unanswered goals for the Tigers, giving them a 10-6 lead with 8:15 to play in the third quarter. A four-goal lead would be more than enough for Trevor Tierney.
Standing opposite Carcaterra, of whom head coach Bill Tierney said, "I am scared to death," Trevor Tierney was a harrowing sight in the Tiger net for Hopkins' attackmen. His 22 saves were the most by a Princeton goalie since three-time All-American Scott Bacigalupo had 24 against Loyola in 1991.
During the final quarter, the Blue Jays fired 22 shots in an effort to cut Princeton's lead. Tierney saved eight, allowing only two goals.
Tierney's performance made what was supposed to be Princeton's greatest weak spot, the defense, less of a factor. The Tigers started three inexperienced defenders in junior Ryan Mollett, sophomore Scott Farrell and freshman Damien Davis. Davis, a Baltimore native, was the darling of the local media throughout the week, and was often matched with Hopkins' first-team All-American attack Dan Denihan.
"I was definitely nervous coming into the game," Davis said. "[Friday night,] I didn't sleep much."
Davis and the defense were by no means perfect, as Denihan racked up four goals and an assist. That subjugation of Hopkins was the result of Trevor Tierney's play and the Princeton defensive system, which was quick to double team and rarely left an open man.
"You can't ignore the game Trevor played today in the goal," coach Tierney said, adding, "the beauty of it all is these [defensemen] are talented individuals who bought into a system."
While the defensive effort was a surprise, the success of the offensive system was not. Returning starters senior midfielder Josh Sims (two goals, three assists), Prager (two goals), and Striebel performed as expected. Nevertheless, the remainder of the Tigers' offense came from new sources, such as freshman attack Josh White, who notched a pair of late scores. With the multitude of scorers, Princeton demonstrated depth in its season-opener.
"Because of our depth, all of a sudden, you had [a boost]," coach Tierney said. "Last year, we just tried to hold on against Hopkins.
"For March 4, that's a heck of a lacrosse game."
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