Men's lacrosse readies for No. 1 Syracuse

After beating two of the nation's top teams — Johns Hopkins and Virginia — by identical scores of 8-4, you might expect a lighter workload for the men's lacrosse team over Spring Break.

Instead, the Tigers play Syracuse in arguably the most anticipated regular season game of the year.

Princeton (2-0), ranked second in the nation, heads to Hempstead, N.Y., to take on No. 18 Hofstra (0-3) Saturday. One week later, the Tigers face the top-ranked Orangemen (3-0) in Syracuse, N.Y., in a rematch of last season's NCAA championship, which Syracuse won 13-7.

"It's hard to find weaknesses in Syracuse," head coach Bill Tierney said. "They've got a great defense, a great goalie, one of the best faceoff guys in the country, the best shooters in the country, and they've got a great attack."

The Orangemen, however, did lose Ryan Powell, the 2000 Player of the Year, and other key starters to graduation. But Syracuse is still the early favorite to repeat as national champion.

"It doesn't seem like they've missed a beat," Tierney said. "Their coach might say they're not as deep in the midfield as they've been in the past, but that doesn't make them weak there."

Similarly, Princeton has few weaknesses. The Tiger defense has been outstanding, and the scoring has been more than adequate.

"Holding two teams like [Johns Hopkins and Virginia] to four goals is a credit to a lot of people," Tierney said. "We knew coming into this year we've got a very experienced defense, a very experienced goalie, and two of the best defensive midfielders in the country in [junior] Kyle Baugher and [senior] Winship Ross."

"We feel with those six guys out there, we're going to be tough to score on."

When Princeton's defense collides with Syracuse's attack, something will have to give. Since decisively beating Johns Hopkins and Virginia, the Tigers have narrowed the margin between themselves and the Orangemen in the polls. After the two teams battle it out, everyone will know who is the nation's best team.

"Going up to the [Carrier] Dome, there's a lot of hype," Tierney said. "So I know the kids will be ready for that. That'll bring out the best in both teams, I'm sure."

The Tigers will also need to bring their 'A' game to beat Hofstra. Hofstra, although winless, recently changed its style of play — as well as its mascot. The Flying Dutchmen are now known as the Pride.

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Hofstra lost the first two games of its season to national powerhouses Massachusetts and Loyola, both by the score of 17-13. After the two defeats, characterized by quick-paced, high-scoring action, the Pride decided to play zone defense and slow down the tempo for its next game, against Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays squeaked out a 7-6 decision.

"The zone gives you a different look defensively, and we have to prepare for the slow-down team," Tierney said. "They're very well coached, and we've got our hands full."

If the Tigers are to be successful over break, they must improve their play on faceoffs and shoot more effectively. Princeton has had problems in both departments during the first two games, and a weak link against a team like Syracuse could doom the Tigers.

"We're disappointed that our shots aren't falling," Tierney said.

Princeton did not shoot well against the Blue Jays, missing a number of good scoring opportunities. Against the Cavaliers, however, the Tigers simply ran into a hot goalie who forced them to try and squeeze shots into very small holes, resulting in a number of shots that hit the side of the goal.

"Some of our top shooters are stuggling with their percentages," Tierney said. "But we've found in lacrosse that you've got to let those guys shoot their way out of it. [Sophomore attackman] Sean Hartofilis is just not hitting right now, but he'll come around."

Princeton is also troubled by its low rate of success on faceoffs — a trend that started in the second half of the Johns Hopkins game and has continued.

"My biggest concern right now is faceoffs. We're getting killed on faceoffs, we have to do a better job," Tierney said. "But the other teams haven't gotten fast breaks off it because we've settled in our defense."