No. 1 Syracuse too much for Tigers

The straw that broke the camel’s back came at the end of the third quarter. The Tigers (4-4 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) were down 9-6, and Syracuse (8-1) was holding the ball for the last shot. After a missed shot, senior defense Dan Cocoziello picked up the ball. But before he got very far, Syracuse midfielder Matt Abbott checked Cocoziello, won the ensuing ground ball and made a pass to attack Stephen Keogh. Keogh subsequently fired a crowd-pleasing behind-the-back shot past senior goalie Alex Hewit. The Orange took a 10-6 lead into the fourth quarter and then ran away with the game behind three more goals.

“We didn’t play good defense,” head coach Bill Tierney said. “I thought we had a pretty good first half other than a few awful defensive plays, but they started the third quarter with two quick goals, and we were down 8-4. The defense forced the offense to push it, and it’s hard to take your time and be patient offensively when you’re playing catch-up.”

For the second consecutive week, the Tigers did not face off well. Syracuse face-off specialist Danny Brennan led all Division I players in face-off percentage coming into the game and performed above his average, winning 15 of 21.

Because of the Orange’s advantage in getting possession, Princeton struggled to slow Syracuse’s offense and surrendered its second-highest goal total of the season. Hewit’s first save of the day came after the Orange had already scored five goals. His struggles may have been intensified by the Carrier Dome’s white aluminum chairs, which make it hard to pick out the white lacrosse ball.

“It’s hard to say why we’ve struggled on defense,” Tierney said. “It could be the talent of the other team, it could be that we’re asking too much of our guys, or it could be that we have to play so much defense. It’s really hard to tell, especially with a lot of the same guys from last year. When you lose games like this, it tends to weigh on you a bit, and you start to fall back on bad habits.”

Despite the outcome, there were a couple bright spots for the Tigers. Cocoziello did a great job of nullifying Syracuse attack Mike Leveille. Leveille had 38 points coming into the game, while Princeton’s top two point scorers, junior attack Tommy Davis and junior midfielder Mark Kovler, had 37 points combined. Cocoziello rose to the challenge, holding Leveille scoreless.

On the offensive end, freshman attack Jack McBride continued his successful campaign with his second-consecutive two-goal outing. McBride is now an entrenched starter and has nine goals to his name this season.

The first quarter was marked by a bit of bad luck, as three Princeton shots hit the crossbar. The Tigers won the opening face-off, but a shot by McBride hit the post and bounced out of bounds. Syracuse wasted no time in responding, as midfielder Steven Brooks took a feed from Leveille over the top of the goal to score the Orange’s first goal.

Wary that the Orange often score in bunches, Princeton toughened up. After losing the ensuing face-off, the Tigers’ defense forced a turnover. Then, senior attack Alex Haynie found senior midfielder Bob Schneider in transition, and Schneider put Princeton on the board.

Later in the quarter, midfielder Brendan Loftus took a pass from Brooks to score Syracuse’s second goal of the game. Princeton’s defense was aggressive, using many double teams, but ended up paying for it as Loftus was left open.

The Tigers won the subsequent faceoff but lost the ball after another shot hit the crossbar. On Princeton’s next possession, junior midfielder Rich Sgalardi was left open in front of the crease and took his time to wind up and fire a bullet that got past Syracuse goalie John Galloway to tie the game at two.

Syracuse once again responded, however, as Brooks found attack Kenny Nims on the far side to regain the lead for Syracuse. For the third time in the quarter, the Tigers hit the crossbar on a shot as senior midfielder Pete Striebel’s second shot hit the bar.

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The Orange started the second quarter with a bang, picking up the ground ball that followed the face-off. Loftus scored within a minute for Syracuse’s fourth goal.

The Orange won the ensuing faceoff, but the Princeton defense was able to slow the pace, retaking possession after a few missed shots. After receiving a feed from Schneider, Davis flew down the left side and beat Galloway high on a shot to close the gap to 4-3 with 10 minutes, 20 seconds to play in the second quarter. The Tigers would never get closer.

Syracuse struck right back, as Brooks notched his fourth point with a shot over Hewit’s shoulder. After winning the ensuing face-off, the Orange was finally stopped by Hewit, who made his first save of the game.

Midfielder Pat Perritt stretched the lead to three goals on a fast break following a save by Galloway. McBride responded with a gutsy play of his own on Princeton’s next possession. After falling down behind the goal, McBride quickly got back up, ran around the goal and fired a shot past Galloway.

Princeton had kept the deficit relatively small in the first half, but in the second half the game began to slip away.

The third quarter started almost identically to the second, with Loftus taking an assist from Brooks to extend Syracuse’s lead to three. After failing to score on their next possession, the Tigers got sloppy. Hewit saved a shot from defense John Carrozza, but his lazy clear was intercepted by Leveille, who fed the ball to Nims. Nims’ second goal of the day gave Syracuse an 8-4 advantage.

On a pass from Striebel, McBride halted Syracuse’s run with his second goal of the game. Princeton, however, lost the ensuing faceoff. Increased aggression on defense led to a big defensive stop, and Cocoziello weathered a slash to pick up the deciding groundball.

The Tigers’ rejuvenation was short lived. Brooks picked up his sixth point of the game, scoring his third goal on a feed from Nims that extended the lead to 9-5. Kovler, who was having a relatively quiet game, registered his first goal of the day on a pass from Striebel on Princeton’s next possession.

Syracuse quashed all thoughts of a comeback by closing the game with four more goals. Hewit was replaced by sophomore goalie Nikhil Ashra with 2:12 to go.

The Tigers have five games remaining, all of which are against Ivy League opponents. Another loss would seriously jeopardize Princeton’s candidacy for the NCAA tournament.

“The coming games are certainly must-win [situations],” Tierney said. “Hopefully, we can win more face-offs and have the ball more, but the most important thing is to score more. You can’t win games with six goals. We have to get more shots and have a way to make them better.”