Early clash for nation's juggernauts

In the wild, big cats prey on small birds. This weekend, the men's lacrosse team hopes to prove the food chain holds true on the playing field as well. The No. 1 Tigers (1-0 overall) will go head to head against the No. 7 Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins (0-1) tomorrow at the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Classic in Baltimore, Md.

After Princeton and Johns Hopkins battle it out at noon, No. 5 Virginia (1-1) and No. 9 Syracuse (1-1) will take the field at 3 p.m. These four teams have combined have to win the past 15 NCAA championships.

Last Saturday, the Tigers kicked off their season with a resounding 18-6 victory over Canisius (0-1), proving that putting the ball in the net against the Griffins was a trivial matter.

This weekend Princeton will look to demonstrate its scoring prowess against a stiffer opponent. Leading the offensive surge against Canisius were two familiar faces and one newcomer. Senior attack Peter Trombino and junior attack Alex Haynie each scored three goals, while freshman attack Rob Engelke had a hat trick of his own. For his efforts, Engelke was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week.

Though the win against Canisius was a great way to start the new season, head coach Bill Tierney noted there is still plenty of work to be done.

"[Against Canisius] we felt a lot better about our offense than we did about our defense," Tierney said. "For us to score 18 goals in a little over three quarters, we were happy with what the offense produced. Defensively, we had a little let down in the second quarter. [We are sure] Hopkins watched the film and will try to take advantage of some of those weaknesses."

All eyes will be on junior goalie Alex Hewit to stop the Blue Jays' attack. Last season, Hewit received national attention for his goaltending abilities, finishing the season with a .646 save percentage, the second highest among Division I goalies.

In the game against Johns Hopkins, which Princeton won by a score of 6-4, Hewit made seven saves, six of which came in the second half of play. With the victory, the Orange and Black snapped the Blue Jays' 17-game winning streak.

In practice this week, Tierney focused on preparing Hewit and the rest of the Tiger defense for the Johns Hopkins scoring attack.

"Hopkins has five or six really great offensive players, so we worked a lot on matchups," Tierney said. "We [focused] on who we think can cover their people, and how we are going to help each other if we can't. We are going up against a team with a great goalie, and bigger, stronger kids than last week, so we have to make sure we are prepared offensively for that."

The Blue Jays dropped their first game of the season, 8-7 against No. 12 Albany, and will be looking to reassert themselves against Princeton. While the Tigers have a very capable goalie in Hewit, Johns Hopkins has a weapon of its own in front of the net.

Last season, goalie Jesse Schwartzman was the stronghold of a Blue Jay defense that ranked 17th in the country, allowing an average of 8.21 goals per game.

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On the offensive side, there are several players that Hewit and the Tiger defense will have to contain. Midfielder Paul Rabil notched 25 goals and 13 assists and was a first team All-American. Along with Rabil, attack Kevin Huntley was a large part of the Blue Jay offense, scoring a team-leading 30 goals.

Under head coach Dave Pietramala, Johns Hopkins has appeared in the Final Four a total of four times, including a victory in the 2005 national championship. Pietramala is in the record books as the only man to ever win a national title as both a player and a coach.

This weekend will be a homecoming for Princeton assistant coach Greg Raymond, who played lacrosse at Johns Hopkins and helped lead the team to its 2005 championship.

The Tigers currently hold the No. 1 ranking in the nation according to the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, and Tierney sees the honor as a chance for his team to prove what it is capable of.

"The reason we are number one is not because we've done anything special to earn [it] yet, but because Johns Hopkins, Syracuse and Virginia have already lost," Tierney said. "It is a responsibility that we have to play at a high level if we are going to verify that kind of recognition from other coaches and the media."

With the prestige surrounding all four teams in the Face-Off Classic, this weekend is a golden opportunity for Princeton to show that big cats always come out on top.