M. lacrosse takes share of Ivy title

On the bus ride to Brown, one word lingered on the lips of each member of the men's lacrosse team: tradition. Prior to Saturday, the Tigers (9-3 overall, 5-1 Ivy League) had had a piece of the Ivy League crown for each of the past nine years — a tradition they have now stretched over a decade with a 9-6 win over the Bears (9-5, 2-4).

But Princeton also has another tradition to ensure, that of a strong showing at the NCAA tournament. The Tigers have won six championships and have been runner-up twice in the past 12 years.

This year, however, their appearance at the NCAA tournament hinged greatly on the outcome of Saturday's game. Due to its loss to Cornell, Princeton will not win the Ivy's automatic berth and, though the team is a likely lock, must wait for tonight's selection show to see whether it will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

"It was huge," junior attack Jason Doneger said of the Brown win. "If we didn't win yesterday's game, there was a chance that we wouldn't have made the playoffs, and our immediate goals this season have been to win the Ivy League. We just knew the importance of continuing the tradition."

Junior defense Oliver Barry elaborated on Doneger's sentiments.

"We treated the last two games as the start of the playoffs," Barry said. "We knew the consequences of losing yesterday, and we were determined to win."

Play went back and forth in the first half as the Tigers struggled to gain a comfortable lead. Freshman attack Peter Trombino opened the scoring at 13 minutes, 10 seconds of the first quarter, extending his record of consecutive games in which he has scored. Sophomore midfield Jim O'Brien also helped boost the tally a few minutes later, but the Bears were weary of letting Old Nass get too far ahead, and the first quarter closed with a 2-2 score.

Trombino nailed one in again at the start of the second thanks to a feed from fellow freshman attack Scott Sowanick. The goal set the Tigers ahead for good. This would be Trombino's second of four goals against the Bears and Sowanick's second of four assists. Still, Brown ended the half down 4-3.

"In the first half we were just sort of feeling them out on offense," Barry said. "We hadn't gotten into our rhythm yet."

Prior to Saturday's contest, the Tigers had won the past nine encounters against the Bears. Yet Saturday's game was no time for complacency since Brown has proven dangerously tenacious this season and capable of giving teams like Cornell fourth quarter scares.

"We knew that we were up against a formidable opponent," Doneger said. "Brown is a tough place to play, but we knew we had just one job to get done."

With that mindset, the Tigers came out with explosive strength in the third. While Princeton barraged the Bears' defense with shots, its own defense effectively shut down Brown's counterattack, denying them the chance to shoot until the last few seconds of the quarter. The Bears were outshot, 8-1, and the Tigers found themselves up, 7-3.

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"We shot the ball well in the third quarter," Doneger said. "We didn't make any big changes at halftime, but we knew the first few minutes would dictate the pace of the second half so we wanted to come out [strong] early in the third quarter."

Early in the fourth quarter, Brown's star attack Chazz Woodson finally got on the scoreboard. Woodson's lack of offensive presence is proof of Princeton's successful defensive preparation and execution, especially on behalf of Barry, who marked the offensive foe for most of the game.

"We had studied their team offense and individuals all week," Barry said. "Woodson's a good player and is the focus of their offense. I knew that it would be crucial to stop him as an individual."

Senior attack Ryan Boyle recorded four assists to give him 217 career points at Princeton, good for second place all-time, just 30 points behind Kevin Lowe '94.

With Woodson neutralized and Boyle rolling, the Tigers demonstrated the skill that has allowed them to build their tradition. In the end, Princeton took the win, another Ivy title and has a good chance at a berth in the NCAA tournament.