Cocoziello is first-team All-America

“You’ve heard me say it a thousand times before this year: We handled adversity really well, but we didn’t handle success really well,” head coach Bill Tierney said. “It kind of turned on us at the end with the Dartmouth loss and when we hoped to rebound with Brown, but we just couldn’t get it done.”

Despite the disappointing finish to this emotional rollercoaster of a season, Tierney remains proud of his players and what they accomplished.

Princeton opened the season with a 13-6 win against Canisius, but the auspicious start was soon spoiled when the Tigers fell to Johns Hopkins, 14-9, in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. The Tigers continued to struggle against top-ranked foes early in the season, dropping games to Virginia and Albany. But quality wins against Hofstra and Rutgers prepared the Tigers for the Ivy League schedule that lay ahead.

Princeton earned its first Ivy victory at the end of March when it defeated Yale, 11-8. Though the Tigers followed with a tough defeat to then first-ranked Syracuse, they were not deterred by the loss. The following Tuesday, the Orange and Black faithful witnessed a strong win by the Tigers when they defeated Penn at home, 14-5. Six of Princeton’s goals came from freshman attack Jack McBride, who set a new Princeton record for goals scored by a rookie in a single game.

The Tigers then traveled to Cambridge and escaped with a thrilling overtime win over Harvard thanks to late-game heroics by senior midfielder and tri-captain Bob Schneider. Schneider knotted the score at eight with just under a minute and a half remaining in the fourth quarter and then netted the game-winner in overtime to improve Princeton’s unblemished Ivy League record to 3-0.

Seemingly unshakable now, the Tigers managed an impressive 11-7 win against Cornell the following weekend at Princeton Stadium. Unfortunately for the Tigers, an Ivy League championship and bid to the NCAA tournament escaped their grasp after they dropped consecutive games to Dartmouth and Brown to end the season.

Senior defenseman and tri-captain Dan Cocoziello, who started every game for Princeton during his career, was named a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection and a first-team All-American selection at the conclusion of the season.

Freshman Jack McBride, who steadily improved throughout the year, was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year after starting the final 11 games of the year and scoring 19 goals. McBride ranks sixth all-time among Princeton freshman goal scorers.

Senior goalie Alex Hewit finished the season with flair as he scored a goal in his final collegiate game. Hewit finished his career ranked third in Division I history with a goals-against average just over seven. He developed a reputation for being unbeatable between the pipes during his three years as a starter and will be sorely missed by the Tigers next season.

Princeton will lose quite a few other crucial players to graduation. Schneider was a huge part of the Tiger attack and provided valuable veteran leadership as the season wore on, finishing with 20 goals. Senior midfielder Pete Striebel came out of the woodwork this year, tallying 12 assists. Senior defenseman Zack Goldberg’s great checking ability, footwork and speed on transition will also be missed.

Despite the losses, Princeton will return a solid core of experienced players next season. An exceptional recruiting class — one of the best in the country — will complement the returners, and the Tigers must put this disappointing season behind them to focus on the 2009 season.