With recent losses to the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country, Johns Hopkins and Virginia, the men's lacrosse team is off to a 0-2 start entering spring break, and its schedule won't be getting much easier for a few more weeks.
Princeton has away games over the break against two more teams ranked in the Top 15 in this week's United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll — No. 12 Hofstra Saturday, then by No. 4 Syracuse the following week.
At this point Princeton's 0-2 record places it in seventh place for this week's poll. Two early losses may not be an auspicious sign for the 2003 season. But looking back, the Tigers began last season with the same 0-2 record — and then rebounded to advance to the NCAA championship for the third straight season.
Last year, Hofstra put the ball in the net first, but Princeton's defense clamped down and did not allow the Pride to score again for 50 minutes, 24 seconds. Meanwhile, the offense built a 10-1 lead on the way to a 12-4 win.
Hofstra's record currently stands at 2-1, after a 10-4 whipping by Loyola in the season opener and 15-5 and 13-5 slaughters of Binghamton and Cornell, respectively.
Against Loyola, the Pride managed just 21 shots, 19 ground balls, and 6 face-offs compared to 35 shots, 39 ground balls and 12 face-offs for the Greyhounds. Hofstra remained scoreless for the last 22 minutes, eight seconds of the game.
After this demoralizing start to their season, the Pride recovered to win the following two games.
Against unranked Binghamton, they dominated the stat sheet, outshooting the Bearcats, 50-25, and picking up 51 ground balls to Binghamton's 29 for a 10-point victory. Seniors Joe Kostolansky and Jim Femminella were the game's leaders, with Kostolansky recording a game-high two goals and three assists and Feminella adding three goals.
Later that week, Hofstra grabbed a 13-5 win over No. 14 Cornell, in large part due to career-high performances by Femminella and sophomore attack Mike Morrison. Femminella scored four goals and assisted two, and Morrison added three goals and four points.
In Saturday's game, the Tigers' defense should be especially wary of Femminella, and the offense should keep in mind that the player between the pipes will be the most inexperienced on Hofstra's side of the field. The three goalies have seen a total of 17 minutes of college action.
If No. 12 Hofstra is going to give the Tigers a hard time, the defending national champions certainly won't be a walk in the park either.
Syracuse (4-1) lost five seniors to graduation last year, all of them starters and All-Americas. Attack Josh Coffman was a two-time Tewaaraton Trophy finalist and was esteemed as one of the most versatile players in the country during his career. Perhaps most painful for Syracuse was the loss of two members from the back line, Defenseman of the Year John Glatzel and All-American Billy St. George.
But the Orangemen have not shown many signs of debility despite the loss of these seniors. They already defeated No. 5 Maryland, 15-14, in an exhibition game for their second contest of the season. The other three wins came against Navy, Army and Fairfield by an average margin of eight goals.
Holding up the defensive end for Syracuse is senior captain Sol Bliss, who the Tigers may remember as the ringer in last year's championship game and who played the entire contest with a torn ACL. Goaltender Jay Pfeifer, who started all 17 games in his rookie season, is also back for his sophomore campaign.
On the offensive end, the most notorious Orangeman is junior Michael Powell, regarded as one of the best players in college lacrosse. He has won every imaginable award the sport has to offer, including All-American, Attackman of the Year, and most valuably, the 2002 Tewaaraton Trophy. He tallied four goals and three assists in the finals against Princeton last year and this summer was a member of Team USA, which went on to win the world championship in Perth, Australia.
The Orangemen's first and only loss of the season was, not surprisingly, against Virginia in a game that came down to the last 22 seconds. Virginia squeaked by for a 16-15 victory. In the third quarter, Syracuse led by as many as three goals, 9-6, before UVA went on a 7-1 run.
It may still be March, but with the best teams in the nation facing off one after the other, it feels more like May. The teams are now testing the waters to see who will play on Memorial Day.
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