Men's lacrosse deafeats Johns Hopkins in first game of season

After returning its entire starting defense and senior goalie Trevor Tierney from last year's national runner-up team, men's lacrosse expected to have one of the country's stingiest defensive lineups.

But shutting out Johns Hopkins — the fourth-ranked team in the country and a NCAA seminfinalist last year — for a half and holding it to one goal through three quarters Saturday at 1952 Stadium, Princeton's defense and goaltending weren't stingy, they were suffocating.

The Tigers (1-0) beat the Blue Jays (0-1), 8-4, in the traditional season opener for both teams — a game that was not as close as the score indicates. Princeton dominated play for the first three quarters, especially during the second and third periods, and though the Blue Jays mounted a comeback in the final period, it was much too little, much too late.

"For a first game, we're really happy," head coach Bill Tierney said. "Other than that fourth quarter, we couldn't have done much better defensively."

The Tiger attack complemented the defense's strong play with a solid showing of its own. Junior attackman B.J. Prager, the Tigers' leading scorer among returning players, rejoined Princeton after missing the end of last year's regular season and the NCAA tournament run with a torn ACL. Prager — who had scored at least one goal in 20 straight games heading into Saturday's contest — picked up where he left off, scoring twice in trademark fashion.

"He's one of those guys that you know can get the job done," coach Tierney said. "He wants to play out there all the time. It's great to have him back."

On both of his goals, Prager cut toward the net and received timely passes from freshman attackman Ryan Boyle, catching Blue Jay goalie Rob Scherr out of position. In his first game in a Princeton uniform, Boyle tallied four assists with his crisp, accurate passing and clear vision of the field. His most impressive play came in the second quarter, when he made a pass to a wide open Prager while being knocked down from behind. Prager converted on the opportunity to push the Tiger lead to 4-0.

Asked to describe Boyle's peformance, coach Tierney said, "He's like a quarterback out there. He's a kid who at this point is one of the most knowledgeable freshmen I've ever seen."

Boyle and the rest of the attack started somewhat slowly, scoring only once during the first quarter. Five minutes, 52 seconds into the game, junior midfielder Dan Clark found a crease in front of the Blue Jay goal and accepted a pass from senior attack Matt Striebel, who was behind the goal. Clark shot past Scherr, scoring the first point of the season for Princeton.

For the remainder of the period, the teams exchanged scoring opportunities, but the goalie's timely saves kept the score 1-0.

Princeton dominated the second period, with Striebel scoring on an extra-man chance, assisted by Boyle. Sophomore Will MacColl continued the scoring effort as he took the ball from behind the goal and wrapped around the corner, stuffing the ball into the cage past Scherr.

Early in the third period, the Blue Jays finally got on the board courtesy of attack Bobby Benson. The goal, cutting Princeton's lead to 4-1, enthused the sizable Johns Hopkins contingent in the crowd of 4,125. The Blue Jays fought harder for ground balls and the game's momentum seemed to be shifting, but the Tigers wouldn't allow the swing to continue. Princeton scored four straight goals, including three in less than two minutes, and Tierney made a number of remarkable saves in net, including denying a three-on-two Blue Jay breakaway.

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The Tigers entered the final 15 minutes with a commanding 8-1 lead, but allowed some of the cushion to slip away, a recurring theme for the team.

"We've had problems in the fourth quarter since last year — not holding the lead but giving up points. We get teams down 10-1, 10-2 and final score will be 10-5, 10-6," senior defenseman Ryan Mollett said.

"I wish we could figure it out; I'm not sure what it is."

After giving up three goals and making some uncharacteristic mistakes, Princeton's defense tightened to its previous form, keyed by a big save by Tierney when the Blue Jays had a man advantage. The Tigers controlled the ball in the Johns Hopkins' end for most of the last five minutes of the game.