Men's Lacrosse: Peyser key to Tiger defense

But Princeton’s defense has seen nearly as dramatic an improvement since last season. The Tigers are seventh in the nation with a 7.71 goals-against average and have been stingy when it counted. After losing to Cornell two-and-a-half weeks ago, Princeton needed to win two straight games to have a chance of sharing the Ivy League title. The Tigers did just that, with no goals scored against them in the first halves of their games against Dartmouth and Brown.

At the heart of the Princeton defense this season has been senior defenseman and co-captain Chris Peyser. A three-year starter at the position, Peyser is not only a passionate player, but also one of the most knowledgeable players the Tigers have ever had at the position.

“He knows more about our defense than I do,” head coach Bill Tierney said. “He’s a coach and captain on the field, and I can’t say enough about Chris. He’s a fiery guy, he’s emotional, but he’s intelligent, and he keeps us all together out there.”

Those are big words coming from a man whose famously intricate defense has turned heads in the lacrosse world for years. But Tierney’s praise for Peyser isn’t surprising, considering the studiousness the senior has shown throughout his collegiate career.

It all started the summer before his freshman year. Before he had even set foot on campus, Peyser asked Tierney and the coaching staff if he could spend some time with them to get a head start on the Princeton defense. What ensued was a three-hour meeting in which Peyser learned a good deal.

“We banged it out on the whiteboard and went through a lot of our stuff, which we’ve tweaked since he’s been here, but it’s really uncanny how, out on the field, he can tell me what’s going on out there much better [than] from the sideline,” Tierney said. “Now he’s at a point where he and [senior defenseman] Charlie Kolkin and [senior midfielder] Brendan Reilly make their own adjustments while the game is going on, which is really pretty phenomenal.”

“He’s been running the defense ever since,” Tierney added.

“It was definitely a great learning experience for me, to get the ball rolling before I set foot on campus,” Peyser said.

“[Tierney], being the defensive mastermind that he is — it was always a very exciting thing to be able to play defense at Princeton,” he added. “When I was being recruited by them, that was definitely a huge draw and something that I looked forward to.”

Peyser first broke into the rotation as a freshman playing long-stick midfielder after John Bennett ’07 went down with an injury. His performance warranted more playing time, and as a sophomore he was named a starter alongside future first-team All-Americans Zach Jungers ’07, Dan Cocoziello ’08 and Alex Hewit ’08.

That was when Peyser’s role as the defense’s quarterback became clear.

While Jungers and Cocoziello were talented players, they were fairly quiet on the field, Tierney explained, adding that Peyser became the natural leader.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

“We needed someone to communicate, and Peyser … [came] in [and ran] the show as a younger guy than the three guys he was playing with,” Tierney said. “That’s [relatively] less difficult from the tactical standpoint, but more difficult from the natural hierarchy of things in athletics.”

This season, Peyser’s role has been especially critical as the Tigers worked three freshmen into their defense. Long-stick midfielder John Cunningham has played big minutes in every game in which he’s been healthy, while defenseman Chad Wiedmaier and goalie Tyler Fiorito have started in every game of the season.

When all is said and done, it’s possible that Wiedmaier and Fiorito will walk away from the 2009 season with All-America honors along with Peyser. But there’s no question where the two freshmen would be without the guidance of their captain.

“I think I speak for Chad as well when I say we would be lost without him,” Fiorito said. “Chris is the smartest defenseman that I have ever played with. Since day one, I have been asking him questions during practice … Although sometimes he might get annoyed after the 25th question of the day, he is willing to help.”

Peyser has recorded 17 ground balls and 14 forced turnovers — not particularly mind-blowing numbers. But his impact on the defense is not quantifiable.

“Chris has taught me just about everything about how to play and run the style of defense we do here at Princeton,” Wiedmaier said. “It’s one thing for Coach Tierney to tell you how to do something, but having Peyser out there on the field with you is different. It’s almost like you have an extra set of eyes on the back of your head because he is always communicating with you ... Our defenses can be very complex, and the speed of the game can be incredibly fast, and Peyser has helped me to understand that.”