Sub-par outing for men's lacrosse enough versus Brown

Despite uncharacteristically poor play, the men's lacrosse team (10-3 overall, 5-1 Ivy League) managed to edge Brown (7-7, 1-5), 8-7, in its last home game of the regular season Saturday afternoon at Class of 1952 Stadium. Without usual starters senior defense Zach Jungers and sophomore midfielder Josh Lesko, the Tigers struggled with miscommunication and confusion on the field.

The Princeton victory was its 14th straight over Brown, nine of which were decided by three goals or fewer. The Tigers' talent clearly surpassed Brown's, but the Bears' tenacity and resilience kept them in the game until the final quarter.

The Tigers went down, 1-0, 45 seconds into the game when a missed slide allowed Brown's Alex Buckley to maneuver his way through the usually impenetrable Tiger defense and sneak a shot past junior goalie Alex Hewit.

"We were selfish on defense," head coach Bill Tierney said. "What happens is they become so confident in their individual talents, and in their teammates' individual talents that they stop helping each other."

The Tigers would rally to score three unanswered goals midway through the first to gain a 3-1 lead. Senior attack Peter Trombino started the scoring charge with 7:19 remaining in the quarter when he dodged inside to beat his defenseman and bounced a shot over Brown goalie Jordan Burke's shoulder. Less than a minute later sophomore attack Tommy Davis tallied an impressive quick-stick goal from a pass by junior attack Alex Haynie to give the Tigers their first lead of the day. Princeton's third goal came at 5:19, when Trombino collected a pass from senior midfielder Scott Sowanick in front of the Bears' cage and slid another shot past Burke.

Despite the Tigers' scoring surge, the Bears would rally before the end of the quarter to tie the game at three. Brown's Jack Walsh and junior attack Trip Cowin would trade goals midway through the second to knot the score at 4-4. After a Princeton timeout, junior midfielder Mike Gaudio gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead when his first shot deflected off the post.

Sophomore midfielder Mark Kovler gave Princeton a three-goal lead when he scored one goal to finish the first half and another in the opening minutes of the second, but the Tigers soon saw the lead slip away when the Bears scored a man-advantage goal with 9:45 left in the quarter and caught Hewit off-guard at 8:31.

Trombino would complete his hat trick at 7:42 in the third to give the Tigers an 8-6 lead. Trombino's three goals gave him 96 goals on his career and moved him into a three-way tie for ninth all-time at Princeton. Brown's Kyle Hollingsworth scored his second goal of the game at 13:43 in the fourth when his shot found its way over Hewit's shoulder to give the Bears hope for an upset, but Trombino's third goal allowed the Tigers to hold on for the win.

Missed passes on attack and missed slides on defense were made up for by Hewit, who tallied 11 saves on the afternoon. Junior midfielder Alex Berg gave the Tigers plenty of opportunities on attack, winning 11 of 15 face-offs, but shooting continued to be a struggle for the Tigers. Despite out-shooting Brown 42-25, the Tigers failed to show this dominance on the scoreboard.

Tierney may have been disappointed in his team's performance Saturday afternoon, but he has confidence the Tigers will bounce back from this game in anticipation of the playoffs.

"The silver lining is that we're still playing," Tierney said. "Going into the playoffs, you've got to be going, you've got to be on the move, you've got to be playing with momentum. This sets us back a step, but we've been here before. They're good kids, they'll be back, they'll work hard."

Though the Tigers were missing some of their key players against Brown and struggled on both ends of the field, they still found a way to win— the mark of a good team. Princeton will face sixth seeded Georgetown at Princeton stadium in the NCAA quarterfinals next weekend.