Men's lacrosse dominates Harvard en route to easy victory

An aura of inevitability about the outcome surrounded the men's lacrosse team's game against Harvard Saturday at 1952 Stadium.

The Tigers (8-1 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) dominated the Crimson (6-4, 1-3) in every facet of the game, from faceoffs to time of possession, in a 15-1 rout. No. 1 Princeton has now won 35 straight Ivy contests.

Harvard knew that if it were to have any chance of upsetting the Tigers, it would have to start strong and keep the game close going into the second half. If Princeton jumped on top early, a Tiger victory was inevitable.

"I was a little afraid that maybe we'd be looking ahead to Cornell [who Princeton faces Saturday for the Ivy title]," head coach Bill Tierney said, "but with a beautiful day and a great crowd, it was a great win for us."

Freshman attackman Ryan Boyle jumpstarted Princeton's offense with the game's first goal two minutes, 12 seconds into the first quarter. The freshman controlled the ball behind the Harvard net and then ran around the corner of the goal. Boyle quickly attempted a shot that Crimson goalie Jake McKenna couldn't get to, and the Tigers were on the scoreboard.

A few minutes later, Boyle hit junior attackman B.J. Prager with an impressive pass in front of the net. Prager finished, scoring his 16th goal of the season. The junior added another goal in the third quarter, once again on an assist from Boyle, who has assisted on 10 of Prager's 17 scores.

It was inevitable that other offensive players besides Boyle and Prager would make their mark on the game. Going into the second quarter, Princeton led, 3-0, but the lead was managable for Harvard. But senior midfielder Rob Torti joined the action just 20 seconds into the quarter, blasting a shot from about 20 yards away that McKenna had no chance to stop. Forty seconds later, sophomore midfielder Brad Dumont bounced a shot into the goal, and it was 5-0.

Torti continued his recent hot streak with four goals on the afternoon. Each of his scores came on blistering shots, and the senior now has 12 points in the last three games.

Besides the individual offensive performances of players like Boyle, Torti and sophomore attackman Sean Hartfolis, who had three goals and two assists, Harvard's sloppiness contributed to Princeton's success. The Tigers had six man-advantage situations courtesy of Crimson penalties, and they converted on the first four chances.

In each of the first four man-advantage plays, Princeton's attack methodically exploited the holes in Harvard defense to score.

"All the credit for that goes to [assistant coach] Dave Metzbower and the unselfishness of those kids," Tierney said. "Sometimes they even overpass the ball. It's basically about being unselfish, and the guy who has the shot takes it."

It was also inevitable that Harvard would have a very tough time scoring against the Tiger defense — perhaps the best in the nation. The Crimson's lone goal came on a spectacular individual move by Dana Sprong.

Princeton's goaltenders — senior Trevor Tierney, who played the first three quarters, and sophomore Julian Gould and senior Parker Kelsey, who split the final 15 minutes — faced few good shots all afternoon. The Tiger defense smothered nearly every Harvard opportunity and the ball was consistently near the Crimson goal.

In the end, Princeton's depth on both sides of the ball delivered the Tigers a victory that seems inevitable in retrospect.

"We've never had so many good players. We've had greater players, but we've never had this many good players on one team," Tierney said. "For example, [senior captain and attackman] Matt Striebel has taken a lesser role knowing that he will help the team. He's given the ball-handling role to Ryan Boyle. He's creating what in hockey would be an assist because he's making the first pass.

"If there's a problem for this team, it's just that there isn't enough playing time."

Scoring by Periods

Harvard 0 1 0 0 — 1 Princeton 3 6 4 2 — 15

Harvard Scoring

Goals — Dana Sprong Assists — Doug Loggigan

Princeton Scoring

Goals — Rob Torti 4, Sean Hartfolis 3, B.J. Prager 2, Ryan Boyle 2, Matt Striebel, Brad Dumont, Chris Harrington, Dan Clark Assists — Ryan Boyle 4, Sean Hartfolis 2, Matt Bailer, B.J. Prager, Brendan Fallon Shots — Princeton 41, Harvard 23 Ground Balls — Princeton 49, Harvard 28 Faceoffs — Princeton 14, Harvard 5 Attendance — 2,672