After enduring only its second overtime loss in sixteen years under head coach Bill Tierney last weekend, No. 8 men's lacrosse will have a long bus ride to think about what to do differently this weekend. The Tigers travel to Hanover, N.H., to play No. 20 Dartmouth (7-4-0 overall, 2-2-0 Ivy League) at Scully-Fahey Field tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Last week's loss against No. 9 Cornell took the Tigers (7-3-0, 3-1-0) out of sole possession of first place in the Ivy League and has them on the defensive in the fight for the title and its accompanying automatic NCAA Tournament bid. Unless the Big Red falls to No. 15 Brown tomorrow, Princeton needs to win both of its remaining games to clinch a share of the championship.
Sleeping Green giant
Dartmouth has been inconsistent but has the potential to be very dangerous. This past weekend the team was off its game, as it went to Providence and lost, 9-6, to Brown.
Bill Wilson is in his first season as Dartmouth's head coach, replacing the outgoing Rick Sowell during the offseason. Only 30, Wilson served as an assistant coach at Princeton, Hofstra and Cornell before coming to Dartmouth and has brought fresh ideas to a program in the midst of a revival.
Last year Dartmouth grabbed a piece of the Ivy League Championship for the first time since 1965, sharing it with Cornell and Princeton. The Big Green posted a record of 11-3 and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history, while becoming the first Ivy League team to ever go from worst to first in one season. What the Tigers remember most, however, is the embarrassing 13-6 upset the Big Green pulled on them last year in Princeton, Dartmouth's first triumph over the Orange and Black in 15 years.
That win was quite a shock, coming as it did when the Tigers were ranked second in the nation, and the memory of it will be fresh in the players' minds tomorrow. Princeton still has a considerable edge in the all-time series, 44-7.
The Big Green is led by a well-rounded attack and short-stick midfield combination. They return seven of their eight highest scorers from last year, including returning Ivy League Rookie of the Year attack Jamie Coffin, who leads the team in points, with 25 goals and 10 assists. Midfielder Ben Grinnell also has 35 points on the year, with 19 goals and 16 assists. Captain midfielder Tom Daniels is another playmaker to watch out for, with 14 goals and 16 assists so far.
In front of the net for Dartmouth again this year is pre-season All-America Andrew Goldstein, who has allowed only 86 goals so far this year, for an 8.03 goals-against average. His 125 saves give him a .592 save percentage. Goldstein was the lynchpin behind the Big Green's upset of Princeton last year, when he made 17 saves in a performance Princeton head coach Bill Tierney at the time called "The best game I've seen on this field since, maybe ever."
Given the motivation of avenging last year's loss, combined with the necessity of winning for a chance at the Ivy League title, the Tigers can hope for superb performances from all their players.
Going for the record
Freshman attack Peter Trombino, who has 24 points on the season, has a chance to land in the Princeton record books with a goal tomorrow. He has scored in each of his first 10 games, tying the mark set by Lorne Smith '99, and one more would give him the record.
Trombino's goal last Saturday came, as many of Princeton's goals tend to come, on an assist from senior attack Ryan Boyle. Boyle's expertise in the art of the setup has given him 29 assists this season, and the degree to which his abilities help his teammates find the nylon behind Goldstein will be a determining factor in the game.
While this season hasn't yet reached the point of win-or-go-home, the pressure is increasing on Princeton every game. With the Cornell-Brown game being played concurrently, the Tigers won't know until after their contest is over whether they needed the win to stay in the running for the title. All this boils down to an exciting matchup between two young and hungry teams.
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