"This is what you play for," men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney said of the team's upcoming battle with the Big Red.
Facing this great of a rival always means a good game. Tomorrow afternoon Princeton (7-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) will take the field in Ithaca, N.Y., to battle with Cornell (7-3, 4-0) in a game that will likely determine who wins the Ivy League title.
A Big Red win guarantees Cornell at least a share of the Ivy title and gives them the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. A Tiger victory means Princeton would have to win just one of its last two games (against Dartmout and Brown) to do the same.
The intensity of the rivalry is impossible to ignore. Princeton leads the series 34-26-2 overall, including the last seven games. Almost every year it is this game that decides the Ivy champion. Three of the last four years, both of these teams were undefeated going into the game. Last year, the Tigers were fighting just to keep their season alive.
The Tigers enter the game ranked No. 2 in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll. Cornell comes in at No. 9.
Both teams have very similar styles on both offense and defense, and as any player will tell you, familiarity breeds contempt.
"It's a little weird," Tierney said on playing the Big Red. "It's an advantage and disadvantage to be playing a similar team."
Cornell is similar in all respects, beginning with their talent level. There is no doubt that these two squads are the most talented in the league.
In addition, both teams like to play a patient game, slowing down the tempo and taking advantage of mistakes. Consequently, most games between the two tend to be low-scoring.
"If someone gets to 10 [goals], they should win the game," Tierney said.
The Big Red will rely on sophomore attackman Sean Greenhalgh and junior midfielder Andrew Collins on the offensive end. Collins, this week's Ivy League Player of the Week, is fourth in the country in scoring, while Greenhalgh is tied for third with 29 goals.
The Tigers rely mostly on the tandem of junior Ryan Boyle feeding senior Sean Hartofilis on the attack. Boyle leads the nation in overall scoring with 5.29 points per game. He is also No. 1 in assists per game with 4.43. Hartofilis leads the nation in goals and goals per game with 30 and 3.33, respectively.
On the defensive end, Cornell relies upon the services of senior Ryan McClay. McClay is widely acknowledged as one of the best defenseman in college lacrosse. He has earned first team All-America honors in each of his first three years and this summer played with the U.S. National Team, where he was teammates with Boyle.
"McClay knows [Boyle] very well and he's covered him the last two years," Tierney said.
The two will probably be matched up again tomorrow.
The Tigers are equally strong on defense. Senior Damien Davis was a second team All-America selection a year ago and has started every game in his four years at Princeton.
He, along with senior Brian Lieberman and junior Ricky Schultz, will have their hands full with Cornell's attack.
Along with Cornell's players, the Tigers will also battle themselves.
"One major disappointment is our inability to recognize the big picture," Tierney said.
In the second half of last Saturday's 12-8 win over Harvard, the Crimson had long three-minute possessions after which Princeton would rush down the field and take a quick, ill-advised shot instead of allowing the defense time to rest.
In addition, Princeton will need to improve their face-off percentage. The Tigers are dead last in the Ivy Leauge at .463.
"It doesn't allow you to go on runs," Tierney said on losing face-offs.
The Tigers should know the importance of runs, as it was a 4-0 spurt in last year's contest with Cornell that kept Princeton's season alive.
"There is definitely a heightened awareness this week," Tierney said.
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