BALTIMORE — The men’s lacrosse team entered last weekend’s Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic in a position in which it rarely finds itself: as the underdog. Princeton (2-0) was young, relatively inexperienced, and about to face a perennial powerhouse program on a huge stage at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. But in a back-and-forth slugfest with No. 5 Johns Hopkins (3-1) that went into overtime, the Tigers won 11-10.
Princeton came out firing on all cylinders and ready to show off the new offense that head coach Chris Bates has installed. Less than two minutes into the game, junior attackman Jack McBride — one of the players on whom the Blue Jays focused extra attention — found the back of the net after receiving a pass from freshman midfielder Mike Chanenchuk.
Hopkins seemed rattled by the Tigers’ quickness out of the gate but soon began to find its rhythm. On their ensuing possession, the Blue Jays pressured the Princeton defense with smart, precise shots. After some narrow misses, including a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and narrowly missed the head of sophomore goalie Tyler Fiorito, attack Tom Duerr scored a goal for Hopkins to put the game back on level ground.
The two teams traded goals for the next few minutes of the quarter. Hopkins held a 4-3 lead with mere seconds left, making it seem as though the Blue Jays would begin the next stanza with the momentum in their favor. A loose-ball foul against the Blue Jays, however, gave the ball back to the Tigers and with just one second left in the quarter, Chanenchuk once again found McBride to level the game at four apiece and send Hopkins off the field with its confidence dented.
After its streaky first quarter, Princeton came back in dominant control of the game. The Tigers exerted almost constant pressure on the Blue Jays, winning three of four face-offs and taking six shots. In the second quarter, Jack McBride notched one assist and two goals, slipping past Hopkins’ defense time and again to give Princeton a 7-4 lead. McBride finished the game with three goals and one assist.
“[The Tigers] are an extremely challenging group to defend against because of their new offensive style,” Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala said. “Jack McBride got [four points], and that’s a guy that I think we defended pretty well.”
Princeton began the second half with its lead intact and looked to be completely in charge. However, after a short lull in the action to start the third quarter, Hopkins attackman Kyle Wharton — who had been relatively quiet throughout the game — ripped a bullet of a shot past Fiorito to start the Blue Jays on a two-goal run that made the score 7-6 in Princeton’s favor with 7:09 left in the quarter.
The Tigers, who seemed to start the second half with some sluggishness, came alive as freshman midfielder Jeff Froccaro found the back of the net to get his second goal of the game and put the team up by two. Froccaro, who scored a hat trick in Princeton’s season opener against Hofstra, was named the Inside Lacrosse Player of the Game.
The two teams continued to take chances offensively. After more scoring on both sides, a goal by Froccaro put the Tigers up 9-8 with 1:19 remaining in the third quarter. Froccaro scored a total of four goals in the game.
As the final stanza drew to a close, Princeton appeared to have put the game away with a goal with 5:40 left to play. But Hopkins attackman Zach Palmer and midfielder Michael Kimmel both scored in the final minutes to send the game into overtime.
“When we got in the huddle [before the overtime period began], we were so fired up and we knew what we were going to do,” senior attackman Scott Mackenzie said.
Less than a minute into the extra stanza, Mackenzie found a hole in the Hopkins defense and notched the final goal of the game to secure the win.
“[The shot] just felt right,” Mackenzie said. “Jack [McBride] made a great look, got me the ball, and I just put it away.”
Bates said he was pleased with the team’s victory, explaining that he regarded the game as a key learning experience.
“I think we grew up a little bit today,” Bates said. “We took on a good team in a big venue, and we reacted well as a team. Today was a really nice step for us all to grow together. It’s been a fun process.”
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