Offense leads the way in Ivy shootout

Though the men's lacrosse team found its defense spread a bit thin against the fiery Dartmouth offense at times, the Tigers' offense was more than enough to counter any defensive shortcomings.

Thanks to another balanced offensive performance that featured nine scorers, Princeton (9-4 overall, 4-1 Ivy League) defeated Dartmouth (6-7, 2-3), 16-11, in an 81-shot shootout.

"It was an interesting game," head coach Bill Tierney said. "We're just not used to games like this where both teams are scoring."

The first quarter of the game set the tone for the day's play. Though Dartmouth would hold a 14-6 shot advantage after fifteen minutes, the Tigers managed to capture a 4-2 lead thanks to six saves by sophomore goalkeeper Alex Hewit.

Junior attack Peter Trombino struck first for the Tigers with an unassisted goal at 12 minutes 54 seconds left in the first stanza. Dartmouth came roaring back, forcing Hewit to make three saves, including one off a shot close in on the left wing, after Princeton botched its clear.

The Tigers eventually got the ball into their offensive box, and sophomore attack Trip Cowin rippled the back of the net with the second goal of the day at 8:27 remaining.

Despite the two-goal lead, Princeton's defense wasn't as lucky in the remainder of the quarter. Raining down shots from all over the field, the Big Green had the next two goals to tie the contest.

Finally, sophomore midfielder Zach Goldberg got a ground ball, and sophomore defenseman Dan Cocoziello cleared the ball.

That wasn't all he would do. Cocoziello, playing sick with a four-day stomach virus, wheeled the ball down the field and ripped a shot that leveraged all 72 inches of his long pole. The score put Princeton up, 3-2, and marked the defender's third goal of the season.

Freshman midfielder Josh Lesko then closed out the quarter's scoring with a goal off an assist from Trombino at 2:41.

The second quarter featured a rocky start for Princeton. After Dartmouth scored only 37 seconds into the period, they took advantage of a man-up situation and beat the Tigers' man-down unit to tie the game at four.

From there, though, it would be the Princeton offense that stole the show as the Tigers began to open up a lead.

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Sophomore attack Alex Haynie scored what would end up being the go-ahead goal with 6:53 remaining in the half. Princeton added a man-up goal from Trombino, and a score from sophomore attack Bob Schneider all in the span of about 90 seconds.

After two Dartmouth scores, Lesko again had the last goal of the quarter, and with it, Princeton held a 9-6 halftime lead.

"I was really proud of the way we played offense," Tierney said. "We scored on some really good solid lacrosse."

Though the third quarter didn't have a big multi-goal spurt, the Tigers still managed to retain the ball on offense. After a vigorous attack that featured saves made on Cowin once and Trombino twice, the Tigers forced Dartmouth to fail on a clear and got an illegal bodycheck call to go man up.

It wasn't hard, then, for junior attack Scott Sowanick to capitalize on the extra-man-opportunity, as Trombino sent him the net-bound ball for the score at 8:13 and a 10-7 lead.

After Hewit made another save, senior midfielder Jim O'Brien scored off a feed from Sowanick at 6:33 left in the quarter. The 11-7 lead marked the widest margin of the game yet.

But even with a four goal lead, the Tigers weren't safe yet. Dartmouth scored twice before the quarter was out to narrow the Tigers' lead to 11-9.

Though Hewit would lead the defense on Saturday, finishing the match with a remarkable 16 saves, the 11-goal tally the game ended on marked the most goals the Tigers have allowed this year.

"Going through the week, I thought we were really nervous about their athletic ability and their ability to score goals," Tierney said. "It was going to be a tough one [defensively], and it proved to be true."

Fortunately for Princeton, the team's offense was able to make it even tougher for Dartmouth. In the final quarter, the Tigers quickly ran out to a 13-9 lead on goals from Haynie and Sowanick. Sowanick's goal came at 8:51 left in regulation, at the end of a long possession that effectively sealed the game for Princeton.

By the time the clock ran out, three Tigers — Haynie, Trombino, and Sowanick — had hat tricks, and six others contributed goals. It seems Tierney and his stellar offensive point man, David Metzbower, have finally found the perfect formula to get the Tigers into double-digits, and Saturday's offensive effort more than made up for the defensive miscues.

"I'd like to think we can do better," Tierney said. "When you have one game you let up goals like this, it's cause for concern, but on the other hand this is something we have to take heed of and fix it, which we will."