Playing for nothing but pride, Princeton hosts Big Green

Not since 1989, head coach Bill Tierney's second year at Princeton, has the men's lacrosse team played a game without any post-season implications. That same year was also the last time that the Tigers did not play in the NCAA tournament and the last time they finished the season with a losing record. Both of Princeton's impressive streaks will come to an end Saturday when the Tigers take the field against Dartmouth at Class of 1952 Stadium.

With its loss against Cornell last weekend, Princeton (3-7 overall, 2-2 Ivy League) was eliminated from the race for the Ivy League title, which carries with it an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. As well as dashing their hope of making the tournament that way, the Tigers' loss to the Big Red also killed the team's chances of earning an at-large bid by guaranteeing them a losing record. Teams must have above a .500 record to qualify for the tournament through an at-large bid.

Despite having no light at the end of its tunnel, Princeton must be ready to face a tough Big Green squad.

Dartmouth (6-3, 3-1) sits second in the Ivy League with only one loss. The Big Green's lone defeat in the league came against first-place Cornell by only one goal, whereas the Big Red dispatched Princeton last weekend by an overwhelming score of 17-4.

Dartmouth is a team buoyed by experience. Of its starters, only two are sophomores, and none are freshmen. Not only do the Big Green have veteran players, but the team also has a wealth of talent.

"They have a chance at having a first-team All-Ivy guy at each position," Tierney said. "Their goalie is very talented; they have an All-American defenseman and an All-American attackman, maybe two."

These players will create important matchups for the Tigers at every position. Facing the Princeton attackmen will be All-American defenseman Pat Keeley, a two-time captain and anchor of the Dartmouth defense.

The midfield is led by another senior, Ben Grinnel. Grinnel led the Big Green in scoring last year, tallying 19 goals and 22 assists. While his contributions are still impressive, another player has taken the lead this year in sparking Dartmouth's offense — junior Jamie Coffin. Coffin has posted 26 goals and 11 assists this year, only fitting after being named a preseason honorable mention All-American at attack.

The Tigers know the level of talent that Dartmouth puts on the field, but they hope to focus on their own game and play their style of lacrosse to pull out a win.

As has been the case for much of the season, three areas have plagued Princeton: face-offs, shooting and goalie play. Against Cornell, the Tigers struggled in all three facets. Princeton won less than half of the face-offs, shot only 19 percent and went through three goalies in an attempt to find one that could slow down the Big Red's offense.

New priorities

With post-season implications gone, the Tigers are left looking for a new set of goals in the final weeks of their season. According to Tierney, the key question for the rest of the season is "whether we want to start rebuilding this thing next September or we want to start rebuilding it this Saturday."

For the seniors on the team, that rebuilding process will never begin. For senior co-captains defender Oliver Barry and attackmen Jason Doneger and Matthew Prager, Saturday will be the second-to-last chance for them to put on the Princeton uniform.

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For the younger players, the rebuilding process starts on Saturday against Dartmouth. Princeton is a young team with many players competing for starting spots now or in the near future.

"The young guys, they don't want to screw up these next two weeks because they know my memory's pretty good," Tierney said. "We told them we're not going to accept from anybody, but especially the young guys, anything less than 100 percent effort."

Whether a player is trying to end his Princeton career with a bang or prove himself for next season, each Tiger has plenty of motivation against the Big Green this weekend and against Brown next weekend, the last games of the season.

"What happened happened, there's nothing we can do to change it," Tierney said. "But the thing we can do is strive to be the best we can be in the next two weeks, and I think that's what we'll be playing for."