Men's lacrosse bashes Brown, looks to take No. 1 spot after Syracuse loss

When the men's lacrosse team takes on an Ivy League opponent, the game isn't supposed to be close. No. 2 Princeton had won 33 straight conference games and was undefeated in 31 games of Ivy play at 1952 Stadium going into Saturday's game against Brown.

But the Bears were different. They were the only league team with an overall head-to-head advantage (20-18) over the Tigers, and they played Princeton to a first-half tie and eventual close loss last year.

This time around, however, the Tigers (7-1 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) dominated Brown (3-4, 1-1) in every facet of the game from the opening draw to the final buzzer en route to a 15-2 rout. Princeton jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first half, and after the Bears scored twice in the second quarter, the Tiger defense shut them out for the last 35 minutes of the game.

The third quarter was particularly disastrous for a tired Brown team — which beat Yale, 15-14, in quadruple overtime on Wednesday — as Princeton scored six times to blow the game wide open.

"We were selfish in the first half," head coach Bill Tierney said. "But in the second half we came out and played. Like I told them, you've got to care more about the guy next to you than yourself."

The dominance began with the Tiger attack, which sliced through Brown's defense with accurate, timely passing. About six minutes into the second period, Princeton had an extra-man opportunity and put on a display of textbook lacrosse. Senior captain and attack Matt Striebel put himself in excellent position at the right corner of the Brown goal and received a pass. The Bears' goalie, Beret Dickson, had to move right in an attempt to block Striebel's shot. But, the captain passed up his own shot and flicked a pass in front of the goal to junior attack B.J. Prager, who was standing at the left corner of the net. Prager scored easily to give Princeton a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers continued to control the flow of the game in the second half. Brown became increasingly frustrated and picked up numerous penalties. Striebel was the beneficiary of one such penalty and the resulting man-advantage five minutes, 31 seconds into the third quarter. This time, senior attack Chris Harrington caught a pass at the right corner of the goal. Instead of shooting, he sent the ball over to Striebel, who was camped out at the left side of the goal. The captain finished, and Princeton led 9-2.

The Tigers' passing was impressive, but they also beat Brown with individual efforts. Freshman attack Ryan Boyle had three goals and an assist on the afternoon, including a spectacular play in the third quarter. The freshman held the ball far in front of net, with his path congested by Brown defenders. Boyle attacked anyway, weaving his way through the crowd and shooting past a hapless Dickson. The freshman now leads the Tigers in scoring this season with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists).

"What I like best about Ryan's play is that he improves every game," Tierney said.

Even with four points, Boyle wasn't the leading scorer for the game. That honor went to senior midfielder Rob Torti, who had a goal and five assists. The senior orchestrated the attack, especially during the second half, when he seemed to have a a hand in every Princeton scoring opportunity.

On the other side of the ball, the Tigers were just as dominant, especially in the second half. For much of the final 30 minutes, Princeton held the ball in the Brown end, either scoring or taking a number of quality shots. The Bears, on the other hand, often appeared befuddled, turning the ball over before they could advance, or taking shots that had no real chance of finding the net.

The second and third-string Tiger goalies, sophomore Julian Gould and freshman Michael Gilbane, had a total of ten minutes of playing time in the fourth quarter and didn't miss a beat, making six saves.

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Princeton has a chance to regain the No. 1 position in the national rankings this week because current leader Syracuse lost to Loyola, 14-13 in overtime, possibly opening the door for the Tigers to ascend.