Men's lacrosse faces Cornell for league title

Princeton and Penn dominate men's basketball in the Ivy League. Princeton and Harvard dominate baseball. In men's lacrosse, Princeton and Cornell have combined to win 35 out of the last 45 Ivy League championships.

Of those 35 titles, Princeton has brought home 18 and Cornell 17. The Tigers and the Big Red also boast the two longest Ivy League winning streaks — Cornell won 39 straight in the late '70's and Princeton is currently in possession of a 35-game streak.

Princeton (8-1 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) and Cornell (7-3, 4-0) have remained on a plateau high above the rest of the Ivy League for a number of years, which heightens the importance of tomorrow's game between No. 1 Princeton and No. 13 Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. The winner will pick up the Ivy League's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Being the only two national powerhouses in the Ancient Eight, the two teams always remember to circle this game when the lacrosse schedule is released.

"This is a huge game and we're fully aware that Cornell is a team that can get you," head coach Bill Tierney said. "This week's totally different. We're against an opponent which should make it a war out there."

Indeed, the last time Princeton lost an Ivy League game was in 1995 to the Big Red, and Cornell has been the only team that has been able to consistently keep the Tigers within striking distance.

This year should be no different than years past. Both Princeton and Cornell have run over most Ivy opponents and come into the weekend with unblemished conference records. With each team only having tomorrow's contest and one more conference game remaining on its Ivy League schedule, the winner will secure at least a share of the Ivy title and an automatic birth to the NCAA tournament.

"We treat [Cornell] differently because we're 4-0 and they're 4-0, and this is for the championship and the automatic qualifier for the tournament," Tierney said. "If you can win this one, at least you know that you are in."

Although Cornell may be dismayed at Princeton's success in lacrosse over the last 10 years, it now has a reason, however flimsy, to be optimistic for this year's match.

"I know [Cornell's] hype coming into the game is that the last time they beat Hobart was 1995 and that's also the last time they beat Princeton," Tierney said. "They beat Hobart on Tuesday so they are assuming that they're going to beat Princeton.

"It certainly brings back some ghosts of the past, so our awareness is raised."

Although Cornell is excited about its victory against Hobart, Princeton is — to put it mildly — hot. In the last five games, the Tigers have beaten opponents by an average score of 15-4. Princeton has dominated its recent opponents both offensively and defensively.

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"We feel like we're playing well," Tierney said. "As we look back, the Harvard, Penn, Yale, Rutgers games were good games for us."

Princeton knew that its defense was going to shine in those games. The Tigers lead the nation in scoring defense and have only given up four goals per game in their last five contests. But the team may not have expected such a strong output from its offense.

The Tiger starting attackmen —usually senior captain Matt Striebel, junior B.J. Prager and freshman Ryan Boyle, who leads the team in points and assists — have not been without aid from the rest of the team.

A deep bench at attack, including sophomore Sean Hartofilis, who leads the team in goals with 18 this season, as well as senior midfielder Rob Torti have helped keep the pressure off the starting three.

Cornell, on the other hand, has an attack centered on Ivy Player of the Year candidate David Key.

"We've played against a lot of great players throughout the year defensively, but they are very talented and have had fabulous years," Tierney said. "Key is unbelievable, he can shoot and feed the ball."

Key comes into the game with 22 goals on only 35 shots, converting an astounding 63 percent of his shots into goals.

Princeton, however, feels as though it can stop the dangerous attack of its Ivy foe. The team is very confident in its three All-America defenders — senior Ryan Mollett, junior Scott Farrell and sophomore Damien Davis. The Tigers are also solid in the cage with senior goalkeeper Trevor Tierney.

The two teams have established that they are not yet willing to relinquish their hegemony to the remainder of the league.

The Tigers have the personnel to rise above the Big Red. But Cornell also has the offense to possibly eke out a victory. Now, they just have to step out and discover who this year's top dog will be.