Tigers edge Hofstra, then blast Bellarmine

Third time's the charm. As trite as this old adage may sound, the men's lacrosse team (4-2) proved it to be true during last Sunday's thrilling, 5-4 victory over Hofstra (1-3). After suffering two heartbreaking 7-6 losses to Johns Hopkins and Virginia in the preceding weeks, the Tigers refused to lose a third one-goal game. Sophomore attack Tommy Davis bounced a shot past Hofstra goalie Danny Orlando with eight ticks remaining on the clock to put an end to the defensive struggle.

On Saturday, Davis yielded the starring role to junior goalie Alex Hewit, who showed off a little offensive prowess in leading Princeton to its third-straight win, a 17-3 thrashing of Bellarmine (1-6).

Davis' last-second goal against the Pride — his fifth of the season — was made possible by a pass from senior attack Peter Trombino. The win was bittersweet for head coach Bill Tierney. Though the victory snapped a two-game losing streak against the Pride and restored confidence in his Tigers, it came at the expense of his nephew Seth Tierney who is the head coach at Hofstra.

Davis also opened the game's scoring when he netted a goal nine minutes into the game. Princeton never trailed from that point but felt the Pride at its back throughout the afternoon. Hofstra's Anthony Muscarella knotted the game when he scored the Pride's first goal midway through the second quarter.

The Tigers regained the lead with one minute, five seconds remaining in the half, when junior midfielder Bob Schneider tallied a goal. Sophomore midfielder Mark Kovler gave Princeton some insurance with his third-quarter goal to lift the Tigers to a 3-1 lead. After senior midfielder Mike DeSantis and the Pride's Mike Colleluori traded goals to make the score 4-2, Princeton's two-goal cushion soon disappeared when Muscarella and Colleluroi both scored their second goals of the game to tie the score at four.

Davis' heroics came just in time to break the stalemate and the one-goal loss streak that plagued the Tigers recently.

The game-winner originated with a save and a clear from Hewit, performing his regular role protecting the net. During Saturday's game against Bellarmine, Hewit decided to take things into his own hands to break an early 0-0 stalemate.

A few minutes into the first quarter, Hewit collected a ground ball and exited the crease, looking for an open Tiger. Instead of dishing the ball to a defenseman, he saw an opening and sprinted upfield until a Bellarmine defenseman finally slid to cover him. Hewit then made a quick pass to senior attack and tri-captain Peter Trombino, who netted the first Princeton goal of the afternoon with 11:18 remaining in the quarter.

"No one was really around, so I had the opportunity to run up the field," Hewit said. "I first thought that I would clear it to an attackman, but when I got into the offensive zone the guy who was covering me tripped and fell, so I kept running. Pete did a great job of getting open quickly and had a one-on-one with the goalie."

Tierney was equally pleased with the unexpected assist.

"Alex made a save and, as he sometimes does, saw an opening and took it," Tierney said. "He was so far ahead of the pack, and nobody else was really open. When he picked his head up and saw that Trombino's guy decided to slide to him, he passed it to Peter. It was a good spark for us."

The impressive assist ignited the Princeton attack. All season the Tigers have sought a spark like the one Hewit provided, and once the fire was lit the blaze raged for the rest of the game. After Trombino gave Princeton a 1-0 lead, the Tigers tallied nine more unanswered goals during the first and second quarters, eventually topping Bellarmine by 14.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

After a series of tight games this season, the Tigers learned that they needed to take smarter shots and concentrate on their priorities on the attacking end rather than focusing on their opponent.

"From now on, it's a Princeton thing," Tierney said. "If we play well, we can beat anybody. If we don't, and we don't shoot well, anybody can beat us."

Fourteen different Tigers tallied points against the Knights, outshooting their opponent 52-28. Trombino led the way with four goals, while sophomore midfielder Mark Kovler added three goals and an assist.

Hewit recorded one save and one assist on the afternoon and was replaced by freshman Nikhil Ashra in the third quarter. After making seven saves and allowing only two goals, Ashra returned to the sideline as junior Evan Magruder made his first appearance in goal for Princeton. He tallied one save and allowed no goals.

"Most importantly, everybody got in the game today, and everybody got a chance to play," Tierney said. "Once in a while we need that, too. Today was a great reward."