Attack should be strength for m. lax

The men's lacrosse team has been, is and probably always will be a defensive team. As head coach Bill Tierney says, "Only defense can win us a championship." That may be the case, but so far this season the Tiger attack is the talk of the borough.

This spring Princeton returns its entire first attack line from last year's national championship team in the form of senior captain B.J. Prager, junior Sean Hartofilis and sophomore Ryan Boyle. Consequently, the expectations for the experienced trio as well as the entire Tiger offense have been set quite high.

While each player on the first line has garnered numerous individual awards, it is their collective chemistry and individual styles that Tierney thinks will make this group one of Princeton's finest attack lines in history.

"Diversity is their greatest asset," Tierney said. "We're looking for three guys to be as different as they can be on attack. These three fit that mold."

"We all have different styles," Hartofilis added. "Ryan carries the ball — he's the feeder. B.J. is our inside scorer. And I'm the outside man who can stretch the defense."

Not only do their styles fit well together, but after a year of playing on the same line they can now feel each other on the field and anticipate where the other players will be.

"I think now that we have a year under our belts, we know each other's tendencies," Prager said. "But it's tough to tell if the chemistry has come back yet."

That fear was one that was shared by many, including Tierney, during the team's preseason.

"I'm a little worried about the team," Tierney said before the season began. "They haven't quite clicked yet, but I think it's coming."

"I think during the preseason, our offense was trying to do too much," Boyle added. "We need to let the game come to us, let it flow and pick our spots."

In the team's season opener two weeks ago against Johns Hopkins, all of the coaching staff's fears about the offense's chemistry were realized.

The attack stalled and Princeton managed only two goals in the first 53 minutes of the game. No one on the first line registered a point until Boyle's tally with three minutes left in the game. The Tigers went on to lose that game 8-5 with Boyle's goal serving as the first line's only production.

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

The next week of practice did not suggest that anything would change.

"There was a lot of emotion in practice after the Hopkins game," Tierney said. "But nothing suggested that the attack had come together."

Against Virginia last week the offense again started off slowly. Then something clicked. They felt it. Trailing 2-1 with four minutes left in the first quarter, Boyle took the ball from behind the net and brought it out front. He jockeyed for position and stutter-stepped, and as he began to move right he found Prager in the middle for a no-look pass. Prager turned and put the ball home for the goal. It had started.

Minutes later, the Tigers again found themselves down a goal and with possession. After working the ball around for a while, Boyle took control and drove in from behind the net. As the defense collapsed, he found Hartofilis moving in and the junior buried a shot in the back of the net.

After that, the offense showed more life and energy than it had at any point in the preseason or in the Hopkins game. The Tigers moved the ball better, players cut harder to the net and the result was 11 goals in the contest.

It has taken them two games and now two consecutive losses, but the attack is now close to where it wants to be. The chemistry seems to have returned, and each player is letting the game come to him. Now only time will tell if the improved play in the Virginia game will continue.