With less than 10 seconds left in the men's lacrosse game Saturday against Syracuse, junior attack Ryan Boyle had the ball in Orangeman territory trying to run out the clock. He got checked and lost the ball. Syracuse scooped it up, and Jarrett Park launched the ball to Brian Nee near midfield. Nee turned and fired a strike to Michael Stringer right in front of senior goalie Julian Gould. Yet Gould stuffed Stringer from pointblank range, and the Tigers walked out with a much-needed 11-10 win over No. 3 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
With last years 1-3 start still in their minds, the men's lacrosse team entered spring break with an 0-2 record and in desperate need of two wins. They got just that with the victory over Syracuse on Saturday and an 18-5 thrashing of Hofstra on March 15.
"The first [win] is the hardest to get," head coach Bill Tierney said.
The Orangemen and Tigers have met in the last three national championship games and have combined to win 13 of the last 15 national titles. In last year's title game, the Tigers came back from a 12-7 second half deficit, only to fall 13-12.
On Saturday, the Tigers once again found themselves in a deep second-half hole, trailing 8-4. Unlike last season, this year the Tigers were able to complete the comeback.
"What a lot of people don't understand about the Princeton-Syracuse rivalry is that there is a lot of respect between these two teams," Tierney said.
The comeback
After falling behind by four midway through the third quarter, the Tigers scored five straight goals to take a 9-8 lead. Syracuse would tie the game at nine and also at 10. Senior midfielder Brad Dumont netted the game winner with two minutes, 55 seconds left in the game.
On the goal, senior attack Sean Hartofolis beat two defenders and fed Dumont, who was wide open on the other side of the crease.
"[Hartofilis] did all the work," Dumont said. "Everyone worked around him. Once I saw my guy go to him, I just cut to the backside and put it in."
Sophomore attack Jason Doneger set a career high with five goals, including all three of Princeton's first half goals. At halftime, the Tigers were down 5-3. Doneger leads the team with 12 goals on the year. Hartofilis is next with nine scores.
After falling behind 8-4, goals by junior attack Ryan Boyle and Hartofilis made the score 8-6. Doneger added a goal just before the end of the third to make it 8-7 entering the last quarter. Senior defense Damien Davis scored the game-tying goal one minute and 18 seconds into the final quarter.
The All-American Davis had a superb defensive game matched up against Syracuse's star attack Michael Powell. Last year, Powell won the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is awarded to the nation's top player. Additionally, he has won attackmen of the year honors twice. Davis held Powell without a point for the first time in Powell's collegiate career.
"It was a great game," Tierney said. "Julian was fantastic all day. He has been a stalwart for us. To come in here and stand tall like he did, I couldn't be prouder of him."
Running away
While the Syracuse game came down to the closing seconds, the Tigers pulled away from Hoftsra a week earlier wth seven minutes left in the first half.
Boyle led the way with a career high nine points on three goals and six assists. He leads the team with 13 points in only three games played. Boyle opened the scoring only 52 seconds into the game and the Tigers would never relinquish that lead.
After trading goals with Hofstra to the tune of a 4-3 first half lead, Princeton closed the first half with three unanswered goals in the final 6:22 of the first half to go up 7-3.
Hofstra was not able to mount any sort of second half charge. Princeton scored the first three goals of the second half to go up 10-3 and put the game out of reach. The rest was simply icing on the cake.
Junior midfielder John Robinson and sophomore midfielder J.G. Guidera scored their first goals of the season to close the scoring and provide the final margin of victory.
While the offense showed a spark that was missing from the first two games, Princeton was again unable to take advantage of its man-up opportunities. The Tigers scored on only one of 11 such chances over break, and on the season Princeton has converted only two of 20.
The Tigers were able to avoid opening the season 1-3 for the second straight season and stopped the prognostications of doom before they started. They play Rutgers Tuesday afternoon, before opening their Ivy schedule Saturday at Yale.
Looking ahead to the Ivy League, after the first weekend of conference play, Cornell and Penn stand atop the League with one win apiece and no losses. At the bottom looking up are Harvard and Yale, both 0-1 in Ivy play.
Read More
Preview: No. 3 men’s lacrosse plays No. 5 Syracuse in NCAA quarterfinals
Hayk YengibaryanShould the Tigers beat the Orange, they will advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022 as they look to win their first national championship since 2001.
Should the Tigers beat the Orange, they will advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022 as they look to win their first national championship since 2001.
Six for six: men’s and women’s track and field both complete triple crown
Luke StocklessMen’s and women’s track and field each won the Ivy League title this past weekend, capping off a dominant season in which both teams won the triple crown — a feat not seen in 14 years.
Men’s and women’s track and field each won the Ivy League title this past weekend, capping off a dominant season in which both teams won the triple crown — a feat not seen in 14 years.
Nation’s No. 2 miler Mena Scatchard ’25 to transfer to Stanford for graduate year
Luke StocklessThe Tigers’ most decorated distance runner ever has decided to use her final year of eligibility at Stanford after graduating from Princeton this May.
The Tigers’ most decorated distance runner ever has decided to use her final year of eligibility at Stanford after graduating from Princeton this May.