Lax wins two over break

In sports, a team needs both possession of the ball and a coherent offense to score. It took them most of spring break, but the men's lacrosse team looks like it might've finally found a good combination of these two factors.

Though the Tigers' (4-2) 9-4 win over Butler (1-6) on Friday seemed a bit on the flat side, Princeton came alive in the second half against Binghamton (4-3) yesterday with a seven-goal run in a promising display of offensive coordination. The result was a 10-2 victory.

"There was a little spark, so hopefully we can carry that into our Ivy League season," head coach Bill Tierney said.

Indeed, the story of last weekend's painful 9-5 loss to Hofstra was the utter absence of any spark on offense. The Tigers were barely able to control the ball, losing most of their face-offs, and found themselves largely unable to create opportunities when they did have the rock.

Friday night's win against Butler left the team wanting something more. Though it wasn't the most inspired lacrosse that the Class of 1952 Stadium has ever seen, it was a win, nonetheless.

Symbolic of the Tigers' offensive struggles, it was sophomore defenseman Dan Cocoziello who scored the first goal for the Tigers unassisted off a clear. Princeton struggled afterwards, with shots from freshmen midfielders Mark Kovler and Rich Sgalardi getting stuffed.

Butler put the Tigers on their heels with two goals only 11 seconds apart to open the second quarter, but Princeton then responded with five straight goals to close out the half. Kovler notched two — he'd have a hat trick before the end of the game — as the Tigers took a 6-2 halftime lead.

Just as a strong second half left the Tigers relatively satisfied on Sunday, a weak second half against Butler left Princeton feeling empty despite the win. The Tigers managed only three more goals, to Butler's two, en route to their 9-4 win. It was, though, Tierney's 200th victory at Princeton.

Win 201 came with a decidedly different flavor, though the game started slow. Princeton struck first, as it has in every game so far this season, with an unassisted goal by Kovler who wound in front of the crease and stuck the ball in the bottom offside corner.

Binghamton responded with a goal as it appeared the Tigers wouldn't be able to muster much offense yet again. One thing, though, was apparent: despite several mediocre shots and good saves by Binghamton's goalkeeper, the Tigers were clearly getting better movement both on and off the ball.

Late in the second quarter, junior attack Scott Sowanick struck twice, once on a shot that barely rolled over the line and once flying down the right win with an unassisted goal. The scores gave Princeton a 3-1 halftime lead.

Few would have guessed, however, that those two scores apparently gave Princeton the momentum it needed to go on a big run after halftime.

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"We did do a good job early on of bang-bang quick passing, and then we got away from it [later] in the first half," Sowanick said. "Then, in the second half, we got back to it, and that's when we went on that run. Compared to our game on Friday, [in] the second half today the ball movement was really what we've been [trying to do more of]."

Junior attack Peter Trombino scored first, eight minutes into the half, as Sowanick gave him a feed that Trombino was able to redirect into a low-angle underhanded crank over the keeper's shoulder.

Next, in a good example of the speedy transition play the Tigers have been working on all season, junior defenseman John Bennett checked the ball out of a Binghamton player's stick. Quickly, Cocoziello came to help him and wheeled the ball across midfield and down the wing. Freshman attack Tommy Davis cut inside to the crease, where Cocoziello was able to feed him for a quick score and a 5-1 lead.

With less than a minute remaining in the third quarter, Sowanick completed a hat trick off a blocked Trombino shot. Sowanick's performance on the day was, like much of Princeton's offense, both reassuring and promising after a few lackluster games.

"[Scott's] doing what he should be doing," Tierney said. "He's all about his own confidence, and so you see Scott in games. When he gets the first one, he's pretty good."

After a score by Davis, sophomore attack Bob Schneider caught a feed from Kovler, who had been inside but dumped the ball out to his teammate. Schneider powered his way through at least two defenders with one hand on his stick and found the net with 12:30 remaining in regulation.

The result, an 8-1 lead that would grow to 10 goals before time expired, seemed reassuring for a team that had struggled with offensive production nearly all season long.

"On Friday, I don't know if we came out flat, but we never really rekindled the fire," Sowanick said. "Today, offensively we did much better, [but] we still need to improve a ton offensively. The defense and the goalies have been amazing — they'll definitely keep it up, and we've got to pick up our end."

Indeed, Cocoziello and Bennett continued their strong play, complemented by standout sophomore goalkeeper Alex Hewit. Hewit made 15 saves on Friday night; though he only had eight on Sunday, the Tigers well outshot the Bearcats, 47-20.

The win, though perhaps not the breakout game the Tigers have been seeking for some time now, is certain to give the team confidence as they prepare for their Ivy League opener against Yale this weekend.

"It's really good to get the two wins under the belt this weekend and then go into Yale on Saturday," Sowanick said.

What remains to be seen, though, is whether or not this weekend's spark of confidence will develop into goals as the weather — and the Tigers' competition — begins to heat up.