‘D’ anchored by veterans, helped by newcomers

Hewit finished his career with a 7.00 goals against average, third best in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse history. Cocoziello picked up two second-team All-America selections before capping off his career with a first-team All-America selection last season. He started every game of his Princeton career.

But every good story must have an end, and, with the graduation of the class of 2008, Hewit and Cocoziello departed.

The 2009 incarnation of Princeton’s defense will have a new look. Raw but talented freshmen will play next to experienced veterans, a combination that has the Tigers’ returning players anticipating the season.

“It has been really exciting working with the defense this year,” senior defenseman and co-captain Chris Peyser said.

The key to the unit will be chemistry: The talent and experience is in place, but the players simply haven’t played together much.

“Our underclassmen are very talented, and we think they bring a lot to the defense,” senior co-captain and short-stick defensive midfielder Brendan Reilly said. “Because we haven’t played together for long, we’ve looked very good at times but haven’t consistently played well for long periods.”

At close defense, Princeton returns Peyser and junior Jeremy Hirsch, both of whom started every game last season. Hirsch finished 2008 with 12 ground balls, while Peyser picked up 15. Peyser has also been named a preseason third-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse Magazine for the second consecutive year.

Stepping into the void left by Cocoziello will be freshman Chad Wiedmaier, Inside Lacrosse Magazine’s No. 3-rated prospect this year. The expectations are very high for Wiedmaier, who is also a product of Delbarton.

“He certainly has the potential to be the best we’ve ever had,” Tierney said.

Following a breakout performance in the fall, sophomore Long Ellis has earned a spot as the fourth defender.

“He’s been our most improved player over the year,” Tierney said. “He’s got a great stick, he seems to be understanding the defense better now, and he could also bump up to pole if he had to.”

The defensive midfield returns three experienced players. Reilly, who was named an Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America Honorable Mention, will pair with senior Josh Lesko, who has switched from offensive midfield to defensive midfield. Charlie Kolkin — also an Honorable Mention All-America — is the incumbent at longpole. Kolkin leads all returning Tigers with 27 ground balls in 2008.

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But Kolkin missed the fall and the season’s first game with a hamstring injury. Freshman backup longpole John Cunningham will see significant time at the position. The No. 28-rated recruit in the Class of 2012, Cunningham wasted little time in showing his skill last Saturday against Canisius. In limited minutes, Cunningham forced four turnovers and picked up three groundballs. Ellis will also be used at longpole if Kolkin’s injury persists.

Perhaps the most intriguing position in the defense, if not the whole team, will be goalie. In addition to losing Hewit, Princeton also lost Evan Magruder ’08, whose leadership and work ethic will be missed.

Freshman Tyler Fiorito and junior Nikhil Ashra have battled for the starting job in practice all year. Fiorito — the No. 2-rated prospect in the Class of 2012 – is an extremely talented player. But Ashra waited in the wings behind Hewit for two years and picked up valuable experience during a handful of games last season.

Neither separated himself enough from the other during the year.

“Until one really establishes himself as the best, we have two great goalies, and I’ll be darned if I’m going to have one of them sitting on the bench,” Tierney said. “If we have to play both of them, we will.”

The Tigers did just that against Canisius: Fiorito played the first half, and Ashra played the second. Both goalies surrendered three goals. Fiorito finished with four saves and Ashra with five.

Against Hopkins, Tierney elected to start Fiorito. After Princeton built a substantial halftime lead, the coaches kept Fiorito in the game. The freshman finished with 11 saves, earning his first collegiate victory against Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

With his performance against the Blue Jays, Fiorito has earned the starting job. However, it is still possible that Ashra will come off the bench when needed, Tierney said.

No matter what happens, there will be an extreme lack of collegiate experience at the position. Princeton will face many teams with strong offenses, including Syracuse, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Cornell. If the Tigers make a habit of falling into holes early in games as they often did last year, the goalies could be hard-pressed to stay calm and focused.

In terms of experience and talent, Princeton’s defense has the potential to be as good as it was in 2007. But with early season tests approaching, the Tigers will need to gel quickly and seamlessly to be successful.