Family rivalry rears head in Hofstra game

Last year’s session of this family rivalry took place in Hempstead, N.Y., where the Tigers (1-2) squeaked out a 5-4 win in a low-scoring affair. This season, after losing consecutive games to two of the nation’s top three teams, Princeton finds itself No. 13 in the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coaches Poll. Meanwhile, No. 10 Hofstra (2-1) already has some impressive wins under its belt this season. Last weekend, the Flying Dutchmen shocked No. 1 Johns Hopkins, 8-7, in an overtime thriller, marking the program’s first-ever victory over a No. 1 team.

The visiting Flying Dutchmen squad features Jay Card, one of the nation’s most talented freshman attackers. Card led Hofstra in the win over Johns Hopkins with four goals and was named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week for his performance. The Tigers, however, sport some freshman talent of their own at the attacker position. Cousins and high school teammates Jack and Chris McBride have combined for four goals and two assists this season and have given the depleted Tiger offense a much-needed boost.

“We’ll have to take advantage of our opportunities and get off to better starts [against Hofstra],” Jack McBride said. “We haven’t really done that in our three games so far and ended up digging ourselves into a hole and giving the other team momentum.”

Princeton’s offense has been performing quite well despite the loss of the top two scorers from last year’s team. The Tigers are averaging 10.67 goals per game and on Saturday will face Hofstra goalie Danny Orlando, who has allowed an average of 6.92 goals per game this season.

“Over the past couple of games we’ve shown what our team is capable of, but we haven’t shown it throughout the entire game. So we need to focus on playing hard the full 60 minutes and cutting down on the little mistakes that take away possessions,” Chris McBride said. “Hofstra is an awesome team, and the little mistakes will kill us against them.”

The Tigers will also travel to Albany, N.Y., the following Friday to face the University of Albany (0-4). Albany’s winless record can be partly attributed to having faced three top-10 teams on the road. Despite the record, Albany is a perennial lacrosse powerhouse. Last season, the Great Danes won their fourth America East Conference championship in the last five years and made the school’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals. Head coach Scott Marr was named USILA Division I National Coach of the Year.

“Hofstra and Albany are both really fast teams that like to get up and down the field, and we need to focus on making sure we stop their breaks and transition offense,” junior midfielder Mark Kovler said. “Playing against such good teams, you can’t let them have a chance to make a run. When things are going wrong, we need to focus on getting back on track faster.”

Stopping the transition offense will place a heavy toll on the Princeton defense. The star-laden defensive line spearheaded by first-team All American seniors goalie Alex Hewit and defenseman Dan Cocoziello has yet to show its magic and flair. The Tigers have allowed an average of 10.67 goals per game this season, including 14 against Hopkins and 12 against U.Va.

“Certainly we haven’t been at our best defensively, and we need to continue to work on that part of the game,” Tierney said. “A big reason why we’ve scored so much in the past few games is that the other teams have scored a lot of goals, and hence we’re getting a lot more possessions and a lot of shots.”

Hewit echoed Tierney’s thoughts about Princeton’s defensive struggles.

“We have a lot of returners from last year, and still we’re giving up more goals than ever,” Hewit said. “Hofstra is coming off a major win against Hopkins, and they have some great players, so we need to stay focused and continue to gain confidence.”