Trio of All-Americans form solid defensive line for men's lacrosse

Many lacrosse pundits would say that Princeton has the best defensive line in the nation. Some would argue that no other line — whether it be offense, midfield, or defense — can compare to Princeton's back three.

The Tiger defensive line consists of three pre-season All-Americans — senior captain Ryan Mollett, junior Scott Farrell, and sophomore Damien Davis. The defense is anchored in goal by yet another pre-season All-American, senior captain Trevor Tierney. In fact, Princeton's defense is the only line in the country which can boast that all of its players are pre-season All-Americans.

"It depends on which coach you ask as far as who has the best defense," head coach Bill Tierney said. "Some would say us, some would say Maryland or others."

The Terrapins are the only team to have given up fewer goals per game than the Tigers — 5.44 to Princeton's 5.75.

Another point of comparison between the two defenses is the teams' only common opponent, No. 9 Virginia. The Tigers allowed a mere four goals while Maryland gave up seven in a 7-2 defeat.

Whether the best back in the nation or not, Princeton prides itself on its hybrid man-to-man sliding defense with a zone.

"We've made our living with what is called a sliding defense," Tierney said. "We believe that, at this level, if you leave it up to guys to have to play one-on-one and everybody covers his own man, then we're going to get beaten for a lot of shots."

For the man-on-man aspect of the defense, Princeton will usually assign each of the defenders to a certain attacker. The three will stay with their assigned attacker until they are able to force the opposing team's man with the ball into a corner, at which point another Tiger defender will "slide over" and double-team the man with the ball.

"The bottom line still is that everybody on our team knows that when they are covering the guy with the ball, they've got to force that person into one certain area of the field so that our slide, or our help, will be there right away," Tierney said.

While others try to imitate Princeton's style of defense, nobody does it quite as well as do the Tigers' trio in the back.

Many factors contribute to the strength of the three in the backfield. Maybe the foremost among them is the fact that Mollett, Farrell and Davis have started every game together since the beginning of last season, thereby gaining an understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses.

"We're really comfortable with each other. I think we've gelled well," Mollett said.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Furthermore, each of the three has strengths of his own. Mollett, for instance, is the team's most-skilled lacrosse player in the back.

"Mollett's got a great stick and usually covers the other team's best player," coach Tierney said. "He's one of the best defenders we've ever had."

Farrell, the team's only three-time high school All-American, usually plays the part of slider on defense and is probably the team's strongest player.

"Scott Farrell is a big, strong guy, 6' 4", 235 (pounds), he does a good job at being our slider," Tierney said.

Davis, Princeton's only pre-season first team All-American, is the best athlete in the back and one of the top few athletes in all of lacrosse.

"He's definitely one of the top athletic defensemen in the nation," Trevor Tierney said. "It's great to see him collide with an attackman and see [the attackman] get knocked back a couple of feet. I think they are surprised to see how strong he is."

Although the three have received countless individual accolades, they will always forward some of the credit to the stalwart presence behind them, goalie Trevor Tierney.

So far this season, Tierney's save percentage stands at .667, an improvement over last season's save percentage of .636 which was good enough for fourth in the nation.

"I think right now, [Tierney's] probably one of the best players in the country. We'd never trade him in goal for any of the other goalies," Mollett said.

It has also been an aid for Tierney to constantly play with the same three guys in the backfield, as he, too, has started every game of the last two seasons.

"The year of experience has definitely helped me," Trevor Tierney said. "My confidence out there is really high. I know that I just have to help them out."

And, when Trevor Tierney is asked about what the best defense in the land is, he will, without a flinch, reply that the Tiger defense rises above the rest.

"I think that they're the best defense in the country. It's great because they always know what each other's doing at all times."