Tigers to face UVA on road

After finishing last weekend a bit blue, the men's lacrosse team will look to come up big in Saturday's clash of oranges.

Coming off a loss to No. 1 Johns Hopkins, Princeton (0-1 overall, 0-0 Ivy League) will face Virginia (3-0) in Charlottesville, Va., this weekend in what is sure to be a dramatic clash between two of the best teams in college lacrosse.

The matchup will be all the more interesting for the unique situations each team faces. Princeton, ranked No. 7 in the latest Inside Lacrosse media poll, is trying to regroup after losing star attack Ryan Boyle '04. The Cavaliers are looking to improve on a freak 5-8 season last year, their first losing season in 17 years.

"Virginia's one of those teams where it's so rare that they have a season like that, that it actually heightens your awareness because you know how much talent they have," head coach Bill Tierney said.

Indeed, though the Cavaliers lost star goalie Tillman Johnson to graduation and are also missing attack Joe Yevoli because of a back injury, they are still loaded with plenty of talent.

Virginia attacks Matt Ward and John Christmas will lead the Cavalier offense, along with rookie attack Ben Rubeor. With its strength at this position, Tierney describes the Virginia offense as "one of the most formidable, if not the most formidable, attack groups out there."

Last season, Ward found himself in a position similar to that of Tiger senior attack Jason Doneger this year; Ward, like Doneger, had to take on the role of leading the offense.

"[Ward] is the guy the whole offense goes through," Tierney said.

Princeton's defense will look to counter the Virginia attack with strong play by senior defenseman Oliver Barry and freshman defenseman Dan Cocoziello. Defensively, though, Princeton will also have another factor to contend with: the Cavaliers' strong transition game.

"They get up and down [the field] and they go, go, go, go, go — and if you're not ready for that, you're going to be in deep trouble," Tierney said.

He also noted the differences between defending champion Johns Hopkins and Virginia.

"[Johns Hopkins'] premier guy [midfielder Kyle Harrison] was in front of the goal, whereas Virginia's two premier guys [Ward and Christmas] are attackmen behind the goal," Tierney said. "In that regard we certainly have to put more of a concentrated effort into [defending] the attack."

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Virginia junior midfielder Matt Poskay, who has shot 50 percent this season, will pose significant trouble for Princeton's midfielders, possibly drawing coverage from one of the Tigers' long-stick middies.

Princeton will look to jumpstart its offense a bit more as well. Tierney identified one of the team's primary weaknesses as clearing — and without a good clear, of course, it's hard to get much offense going. Moreover, the Tigers also hope to see more production from Doneger to complement what has been strong play by sophomore attack Scott Sowanick, who scored four goals against the Blue Jays.

Princeton's offense will face a particularly difficult challenge against the Virginia defense.

"UVA has a man-to-man, physical, athletic defense," Tierney said. "You're either going to get by them individually, or they're going to beat you down. It's not going to be like Hopkins, where you had to throw six passes to get a great shot — there's going to be a lot of individual wars out there."

After playing Virginia, the Tigers will end their spring break a week from Saturday against Hofstra (0-2), facing Princeton on a five-game losing streak that dates back to last season.

The Pride were 4-8 on last year's season, losing to Princeton, 10-5, when the two teams met. The Tigers have defeated Hofstra for five straight years.

Last year, Doneger led the team to victory with a three-goal effort, complemented by Boyle and strong performances by several freshmen. Princeton hopes to achieve similar results this year against the unranked Pride squad.

The Tigers look to start off spring break with a big win over the Cavaliers and to carry that strength to Hofstra and the rest of their opponents this season. With both UVA and Princeton likely to be around come late May, this weekend's matchup yields only a glimpse of the intense lacrosse that is sure to come.