Men's lax goes silent in second half, falls in quarterfinals

Playing Maryland in the NCAA quarterfinals, the men's lacrosse team was down by two goals with just under two minutes to play. The Tigers' No. 14 scored two goals to tie the score before an eventual win in overtime. The player: Ryan Boyle '04. The date: May 22, 2004.

Fast forward two years to Sunday, when the Tigers found themselves facing a three-goal deficit against the Terrapins entering the fourth quarter with a trip to the NCAA men's lacrosse final four on the line.

This time it was the senior-laden Maryland squad that brought down the hammer, building their lead to six before Princeton managed its only goal of the half with 32 seconds remaining. When the final buzzer sounded, the Tigers were headed home courtesy of an 11-6 defeat at the hands of Maryland.

The game started poorly for Princeton, as the Terrapins jumped out to a four-goal lead in the first eight minutes. Junior attack Scott Sowanick stopped the bleeding with a goal with four minutes, 19 seconds left in the first, but Maryland's Michael Phipps made it a 5-1 game just a minute later.

The Tigers, however, were not about to lay down in what became the final game of their season. The Orange and Black stormed back with a four-goal run at the start of the second quarter to tie the game at five.

It was the rookies providing the spark, as freshman attack Tommy Davis netted two goals, followed up by another score from freshman midfielder Mark Kovler to bring the game within one. With 8:41 left before halftime, junior attack Peter Trombino finished off the comeback with an unassisted goal.

Maryland netted two more before the half to take a 5-7 lead into the locker room, but the Tigers were happy with where they stood.

"We went into halftime down two. It felt good, but [the second half] didn't go our way," Trombino said.

Rather, it was the Terrapins who came out of the locker rooms firing, scoring four straight goals in the second half to put the game out of reach.

The Tigers were plagued throughout the game by turnovers, as Maryland caused Princeton to cough up the ball 16 times, nine coming in the second half. By comparison, the Tigers only forced Maryland into four turnovers the entire game.

Ground balls were another area of concern, as Maryland snagged 44 loose balls compared to just 20 for the Tigers. The difference, a swing of 24 possessions, may account for another statistical disparity, the Terrapins attempting 44 shots while Princeton managed just 25 looks at the goal.

Sophomore goalie Alex Hewit stopped 16 shots on day, eight in each half, though he allowed a season-high seven goals in the first half.

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"If you score on a guy like Alex Hewit the way they did early — it was somewhat of a surprise," head coach Bill Tierney said. "You've got to give them credit for that."

Davis led the way for the Tigers offensively, with both his goals coming during the Tigers' second quarter run. Trombino, Sowanick, Kovler and freshman Josh Lesko each added a single goal for Princeton.

Sowanick's goal gave him 20 on the season, while he added an assist to bring his season assists total to 18. It is the first time Sowanick has reached the 20 goal, 10 assist milestone; Trombino has managed the feat each of his three seasons.

The defeat came against a very experienced Maryland team, one where the players had the bad taste from their quarterfinal loss two years ago still fresh in their mouths. Princeton, on the other hand, is a team led by youth.

"We've got a young team, we saw a lot of young guys out there — juniors and freshman mostly, offensively," Tierney said. "And if, if, they learn from this experience, maybe next year we'll be the experienced team."

In 2007, the Tigers will return their top eight scorers and nine of their 10 starters. The lone departing member of the first string would be senior co-captain and defenseman Ryan Schoenig. His fellow captains, senior midfielders Jim O'Brien and Grant Hewit, also played in their last collegiate game.

Despite the quarterfinal loss, Princeton advanced further than last year, when they missed the tournament for the first time in 15 years.

Next season the Tigers will surely aim beyond just the quarterfinals. Returning their most experienced team since the Boyle-led 2004 squad, Princeton undoubtedly has May 28, 2007 circled on its calendar — the date of the 2007 NCAA men's lacrosse championship game.