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Trombino a leader for Tigers

For junior attack Peter Trombino, excelling in lacrosse has been a longstanding endeavor. Trombino's lacrosse career began over a dozen years ago when he chose lacrosse over baseball, following in the footsteps of his older brother, who went on to play for Hofstra. Ever since then he's been driven to keep practicing and playing because of the thrill of the game.

"I think the excitement of the game is what I play for," Trombino said. "Every game is a new opportunity, something different that will never be the same as the previous game or the next game."

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After a great deal of success with high school lacrosse, Trombino's freshman year at Princeton was a challenge. Even though he was a starter for the team, he always had Ryan Boyle '04 "telling him what to do every minute of every game," head coach Bill Tierney said.

But Trombino took a different perspective of the situation and tried to use his freshman year to gain everything he could from the more experienced older players.

"I was a nobody, and I was lucky to be playing with [Boyle]," Trombino said. "I learned so much from him."

And indeed, Trombino made the most of his situation. Along with being named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a four-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week, he became the only freshman in Princeton lacrosse history to end the season with over 20 goals and 10 assists.

Since his freshman year, Trombino has always seemed to come up with big goals at big moments. In the NCAA quarterfinal game against Maryland that year, Trombino scored the game-winning goal for the Tigers one minute, 42 seconds into overtime. Although Princeton would go on to lose by the narrowest of margins, 8-7, to Navy in the semifinals, Trombino almost took the game into overtime with a shot with seven seconds left in the game that was barely blocked.

Although the Tigers struggled last season, missing the NCAA tournament, Trombino's success continued during his sophomore year. Along with starting every game, he finished the season with a team-leading 22 goals. Now going into his third season with the Tigers, he has at least one point, either from a goal or from an assist, in every game he has played at Princeton.

Leadership role

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Trombino has already gotten off to a strong start this season, with two goals against Hopkins and one against Virginia and Canisius, and is very excited about the team's prospects.

"It's a new team with lots of young guys and lots of experienced guys," Trombino said. "How we end up meshing is the question."

Trombino is one of those experienced guys—over the years, he has come into a position of leadership on the team.

"Any good offense needs someone to lead," Tierney said. Trombino is providing that for the Tigers this season with his confidence and sense of flow of the game. "If he is our main scorer, he has to be more than that, and day by day he is becoming more vocal and more of a leader among the younger guys," Tierney added.

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With his strong work ethic, Trombino strives to lead the team by example.

"I try to work as hard as I can so the younger guys take heed of that," Trombino said.

Describing him as a businessman — which Trombino will be this summer as he interns for a leading investment bank in New York City — Tierney praised Trombino's dedication to hard work and to the team. And this season will certainly provide Trombino with opportunities not only to prove his athletic prowess and break new records, but also lead the Tigers to realize their full potential and a successful season.