Searching for explanation of Tigers' woes

On the walls of men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney's office sit Ivy League championship plaques, pictures of his national championship teams and numerous other reminders of Princeton lacrosse's glorious tradition.

But no matter how hard you look, you won't find any remembrances of an 0-5 team — not just because such a feat wouldn't warrant attention, but because there has never been a team off to such a poor start during Tierney's tenure at Princeton.

With an 0-5 start comes the usual barrage of questions. Too young? Too small? Too nervous? Or are they just not any good? And, as per usual, there have been relatively few answers.

As it is for most teams in the Tigers' position — a powerhouse having an inexplicably slow start — it is tough to point in one direction when looking for the problem. The more visible problems that Princeton faced early in the season were the type that can be cured through practice: low shooting percentage, low face-off percentage and low save percentage from the goalies.

Fundamental flaws

Shooting has been a point of frustration for the Tigers all season. Princeton's shooting percentage is currently 24.5 percent, 10 points below last season's mark of 34.8. If the Tigers were converting their shots at last season's rate, they would have scored 61 goals on the season, 18 more than the 43 they have actually scored. As Princeton has lost five games by a combined 11 goals, those 18 missing goals could have drastically changed the Tigers' position.

Princeton has also struggled with face-offs. Despite winning 76.2 percent and 68.8 percent against Syracuse and Penn, respectively, the Tigers only controlled 15 percent of the face-offs in the one-goal loss to Yale.

Critics also point to the goalie situation as a problematic area for the Tigers because of the team's inability to settle on a single netminder. The goalie position did begin as a concern after less than stellar performances against Johns Hopkins and Virginia. However, the position has since turned around. In fact, the combined save percentage of the three goalies, 50.9 percent, isn't too much lower than last season's mark of 52.5 percent.

The aforementioned problems can be found just by looking at a box score. Others, however, are of the intangible sort: the kind that are hard to identify and even harder to fix.

According to Tierney, Princeton has struggled with confidence issues, a flaw perpetuated by the losing streak. Players have also been tentative despite the positive results they see when they have faith in their abilities.

"We're playing on eggshells right now," Tierney said. "Everybody's playing just a little tight. Everybody wants to make the perfect shot, make the perfect pass, make the perfect dodge. Lacrosse isn't like that. Unless you're loose, and unless you're feeling good about yourself, things don't go real well."

Youth not served

The team is also exceptionally young this year — freshmen and sophomores have scored 38 of the team's 43 goals — perhaps explaining the number of close games that the Tigers have lost. In years past, upperclassmen like Ryan Boyle '04 or B.J. Prager '03 buoyed the team in tight games. This year, the team has struggled to replace the on-field leadership and poise that those players brought.

"We knew he [Boyle] was a great player, that wasn't the point. He could bring teaching and coaching to the field," Tierney said. "We're finding that we're not quite getting that on-the-field coaching that is so desperately needed."

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Youth, according to Tierney, is beginning to wear thin as an excuse. The players all have 10 games of experience — with scrimmages accounting for four of those contests — and unquestionably have talent. Furthermore, the Tigers should mature after grinding out the first win in overtime against Penn.

In Tierney's mind, it is his team's strongest characteristic — its character — that has kept it afloat during this tough stretch.

"We've got the finest group of young men we've ever had here at Princeton," he said. "When things are going poorly, if you don't have good character, they'll start pulling each other down. We've had none of that."

The Tigers hope that their characters can carry them until their momentum gets rolling. Princeton's squad is young and talented and will only continue to improve with each game they play.

"It's time to stop making excuses," Tierney said, "look within each one of ourselves and determine how we can get better, work hard to get better and prove that we are better."