To say that the men's lacrosse team has dominated the Ivy League in recent years is an understatement. Princeton has been in a league of its own since 1995, winning 37 consecutive Ivy games in a row and threatening Cornell's late 70's streak of winning 39 in a row.
The Tigers can tie that record if they beat Yale and Penn at home, and then claim the record by beating Harvard on the road April 13. Here are the "Prince" preseason Ivy League rankings and possibly a little insight into which squad might break apart the hegemonic stranglehold of Tiger lacrosse.
1. Princeton
The Tigers can play. On good years, the team could probably split in half and have two teams take home the Ivy title. A bad year for Princeton lacrosse is when only one squad would have the capability of winning the Ancient Eight.
Could this season be different, though?
The Tigers have started off slowly, losing their first two games, one more than the number they lost all of last season. Still, though, Princeton is the prohibitive favorite to take home the Ivy title.
2. Cornell
Whenever one tries to ponder which Ivy League team has the best chance at beating the Tigers, Cornell is the first that comes to mind.
The Big Red have almost exclusively been the team to beat everybody in the league except for Princeton, and fall one game short of the Ivy title and automatic playoff bid. This season, the boys from upstate New York are anchored in goal by All-America favorite Justin Cynar. Last year, Cynar kept his team in the game against Princeton, making 15 saves and giving up just seven goals in a 7-4 loss. His save percentage on the year was a solid 61.8 percent. Cornell returns defenseman Ryan McClay, a member of the American national team set to travel to Australia this summer.
3. Penn
The Quakers have run off four wins to start the season, one of them being against last year's Final Four qualifier Notre Dame. The other three games were not against quality competition, but that does not detract from the Quakers' fast start. Rookie head coach Matt Hogan's team has been led thus far by strong offensive efforts from Scott Solow and respectable goaltending from Ryan Kelly. Last year, Penn had a decent offensive performance against the Tigers — scoring eight goals to Princeton's 19. Princeton might be a little weaker on defense this year, so a poor performance from the Tigers and a solid offensive outing from the Quakers could make the game interesting.
4. Yale
Yale, ranked No. 20, rounds out the Ivy League schools ranked in the top 20 nationally. The Elis started off the season with romps over weaklings Drexel and Sacred Heart. The squad takes on Penn tomorrow, though, possibly to clarify which team besides Cornell will have the best chance to knock the Tigers off the Ivy jungle throne. From last season, the Bulldogs return 23 of 28 players. Four of the five lost, however, were starters, maybe the best of which was defenseman Adam Werdner. The Elis, however, return offensive standout Brian Hunt who averaged 6.77 goals per game last season.
5-7. Brown, Harvard, Dartmouth
The last three teams in the "Prince" Ivy Preseason rankings were outscored by the Tigers last season by a combined total of 49-5. The Bears, Crimson and Big Green will not challenge the Tigers.
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