M. lacrosse defends NCAA title

A couple years ago, Andy Grove, former Intel Chairman, wrote a book called "Only the Paranoid Survive." His book discusses how large companies must constantly be paranoid of their surroundings and not take any rival, however seemingly small, lightly.

For what it is worth, men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney could just as well have written that book about the men's lacrosse team. Tierney — who is not only the coach of the defending national champions but has also won six of the last 10 — knows what it is like to have to constantly defend the title against the upstarts. In the semifinals of the tournament last year, the Tigers had to play well just to beat the upstart Towson Tigers by a goal.

This year should not be any different, in that just about every team in Division I lacrosse has said that its goal is to go out and take the title from Princeton. With so many challengers, though, the Tigers must constantly be paranoid that another school is going to step up into its place and stand on the podium on Memorial Day.

Already this season, teams such as Loyola, Virginia, Duke, and Johns Hopkins have shown some impressive victories that will go a long way towards garnering a berth to the NCAA Tournament, coming another step closer to the title. Other teams that have not done anything to receive respect in the past have won a few games and turned a few heads this year, two of those teams being Penn and Penn State.

The biggest threat for the national title will probably come from currently No. 1 ranked Syracuse. The Orangemen lost a couple of stars from last year's second-place performance, maybe the most important of whom was their face-off man Chris Cercy, who won 70 percent of faceoffs last year. The 'Cuse still return attack phenom Michael Powell who, as a freshman, was named attackman of the year last year. Last year in the championship game, Powell took control of the final quarter to bring the Orangemen from four down to tie the game and take it into overtime. The Tigers will look to control Powell next Saturday, Mar. 23 at 1952 Stadium.

Another squad that has had its on and off seasons, and is also Princeton's opponent tomorrow, is Hofstra. Hofstra has started out the season about as expected — beating the lesser teams and playing the top teams close, but not quite pulling off the win. Hofstra beat Massachusetts and Villanova, but fell to perennial powers Loyola and Johns Hopkins by a goal apiece. Hofstra demonstrates a well balanced attack and defense, but is without last year's Tewaaraton Trophy winner Doug Shanahan. If the Pride's head coach John Danowski figures out how to win the one-goal games like Tierney has, then they may be able to come into Princeton and surprise some spectators.

On the Tuesday after break, the Tigers will host Rutgers. Last year's meeting with the Scarlet Knights came three days after the Tigers were torn apart in Syracuse. Delivering a beating upon Rutgers on that fateful day was just what the doctor ordered to get the Tigers back on track. If the Tigers are unable to get a victory against Syracuse again this year, Rutgers should yet again be a team Princeton can easily handle. The squad is currently 1-4 overall, with its one win coming against a weak Manhattan squad.

The final non-Ivy contest will be against Duke April 5. The Blue Devils are new to the Tiger schedule, but should be a welcome challenge to replace Hobart, which was dropped from the schedule. The Dookies showed an impressive win over struggling Maryland a few weeks ago and played Loyola tighly. Duke will be playing North Carolina and Georgetown in the next two weeks, after which point the Tigers will be able to get a better gauge on the Blue Devils' strength.