Struggling Tigers face must-win

Fourteen of the past 17 national championships in men's lacrosse have been claimed by the two teams that will face each other on Saturday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium. Yet when Princeton and Syracuse face off at 1:00 p.m., it will be with stakes that no one could have predicted for either side.

The unexpected scenario is that both teams are on three-game losing streaks in their worst starts to a season in years. Both are also struggling to turn around programs that have lost their heart and soul.

The No. 12 Tigers (0-3 overall) have suffered three close losses this year to No. 1 Johns Hopkins, No. 2 Virginia and No. 15 Hofstra and are still looking for a formula that will click for them. Head coach Bill Tierney particularly bemoans their poor goalie play, face-offs and shooting.

No. 8 Syracuse (1-3) started off the year by handily defeating a strong Army team after some weak preseason performances. Since then, though, it's been one disappointment after another, including one-goal losses to No. 6 Virginia and No. 1 Hopkins in their typically reassuring home field at the Carrier Dome.

With their eyes already on the end of the season, the Orange, who are independent and not part of a league, need every big win they can get to secure an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. Even with the Tigers' early struggles, a victory over Princeton would be a major one for Syracuse.

Fast vs. slow

The two teams have wildly differing styles of play, providing fans a look at two ends of the spectrum when it comes to lacrosse attack strategy.

Tiger lacrosse, much like the Princeton men's basketball team's offense, is well known for its methodical, slow-moving attack, which takes its time looking for the right shot. Syracuse, on the other hand, has always favored more of a run-and-gun style.

"It's two completely different institutions, two completely different styles, two completely different ways of going about our business," Tierney said. "They are high speed, controlled mayhem. They just go-go-go. They want a volume of shots. We want the best shots."

The statistics from the first few games of the season reveal the differing approaches. In three games, the Tigers have taken a total of 80 shots; despite playing only one more game, the Orange have unleashed more than twice as many, 161. But Princeton's deliberate shot selection has paid only small dividends so far, as the Tigers have a shooting percentage that is just a few percentage points higher than Syracuse's.

The role of goalie play is sure to be huge for both teams, particularly for Princeton as it faces the barrage of shots that characterizes the Orange attack. There has been uncertainty at the position of netminder all season, as the longtime backup, senior Matt Larkin, has challenged the starter, junior Dave Law, for playing time this year with increasing success. Both of them will need to step up their play for this game, as Syracuse's star goalie Jay Pfeifer has a 54.8 save percentage on the year, beating Law's and Larkin's combined 43.1% by a wide margin.

64,000 dollar question

The big question remaining on many minds is why these two titans of college lacrosse have the dismal records they do at this point. While there are many reasons postulated, the answer is anything but clear.

Both are young teams, starting a number of freshman and sophomores. Both teams lost a franchise player to graduation last year, the No. 1 and 2 picks in the 2004 Major League Lacrosse draft, Syracuse's Michael Powell and Princeton's Ryan Boyle '04, respectively. And unfortunately for both teams, the breaks have just not gone their way, with each of the six losses the two teams have suffered coming by an average of just over two goals per contest.

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For now, each team is concentrated on just playing the best lacrosse they can in front of what will likely be a sold-out crowd on Saturday. The Tigers have not forgotten last season's matchup, when the Orange came back from 7-2 deficit to pull off a 14-12 comeback victory over Princeton, nor have they forgotten being knocked out of the NCAA tournament two years ago.

With that defeat lingering in their minds and the pride — and record — of each program at stake, this storied rivalry is sure to reach a new intensity.