Men's Lacrosse: Laxers take aim at Harvard

The men’s lacrosse team will head to Cambridge, Mass., on Saturday to try and preserve its undefeated Ivy League record as it takes on Harvard. No. 6 Princeton (9-2 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) has only two conference games left this year and is currently the only team to have already clinched a berth in the inaugural Ivy League lacrosse tournament.

The rivalry between Princeton and Harvard (5-5, 1-3) is one that dates back to 1881. The Tigers currently lead the series 55-19-1 and will come into Saturday’s game riding a two-game win streak.

Harvard, on the other hand, has lost its last three games and has yet to defeat a top-10 team this year.

Though Harvard has struggled over the course of the season, the Tigers are not taking the matchup for granted. The Crimson matched Princeton shot-for-shot last year at Class of 1952 Stadium, scoring two goals in 42 seconds deep in the fourth quarter before the Tigers eked out a 10-9 victory.

“Harvard has a lot of great offensive players,” sophomore goalie Tyler Fiorito said. “[Attackman] Dean Gibbons, [midfielder] Jason Duboe and [attackman] Jeff Cohen are all talented guys and are some of the best players around. We’re expecting a tough game.”

One of the keys to success for Princeton will be its ability to effectively shut down Harvard’s attack unit. Gibbons, who has scored 23 goals for the Crimson this season, will pose the most serious threat to the Tigers’ back line.

“I think there’s definitely going to be a great matchup between [sophomore defenseman] Chad Wiedmaier and Gibbons. Chad is one of the best in the game at shutting down his opponents, and he’ll definitely be looking to make things difficult for Harvard.”

Senior attackman Rob Engelke echoed Fiorito’s sentiments.

“Wiedmaier is most of the time in charge of shutting down their best attackmen,” he said. “And when he succeeds it gives the defense confidence and usually leads to more possessions for the offense.”

Wiedmaier looked extremely sharp in last Saturday’s blowout against Dartmouth, where he was able to hold the Big Green’s leading scorer, attackman Ari Sussman, to just one goal. Wiedmaier will likely need to continue that kind of lights-out play for Princeton to come away with another dominating performance.

Offensively, the Tigers will need to maintain the same kind of strong faceoff numbers that they were able to generate against Dartmouth. Against the Big Green, Princeton won 16 of 22 faceoffs — a staggeringly high percentage that allowed the team to be in almost constant possession of the ball and to pressure Dartmouth’s back line.

Without a doubt, the Tigers’ performance against Dartmouth will provide them with a high degree of confidence as they head into Saturday’s game.

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“[The Dartmouth game] was the first time our offense and defense had great games,” Fiorito said. “In the first half of the season, our offense was playing really well and, to be honest, it won us a few games outright. Then the defense put it together in the second half and the offense was taking a bit longer to come together. When we took on Dartmouth, we showed that we could put it all together. We had known that we could do it, but we hadn’t really pulled a complete game together before then. Dartmouth was a great team, and it’s definitely a good win to have as we get ready for Harvard.”

Fiorito noted that in addition to having raw talent, Harvard will be playing with the drive and determination of a team under duress.

“If Harvard loses on Saturday, then their season is basically over,” Fiorito said. “Their backs are up against the wall, and we know that they’re going to come out firing and that they’ll be playing with a lot of intensity. They need to win out to stay alive this season, and they need to beat us to do that. You can’t underestimate that kind of motivation.”

Engelke seemed to agree, noting that “Harvard has a lot of talent, their backs are against the wall [and] the game’s at their place. The game will be a battle and our team has done very well in close games and we are looking forward to another opportunity to play well.”

With only two games left in the regular season, the Tigers are ready to finish the year with the same kind of vigor with which they started it.

“We don’t feel any pressure,” Engelke said. “It’s excitement. At this point, we have accomplished a lot, especially within the league. We’re looking forward to the possibility of doing something we haven’t done in a while: win an Ivy League championship outright.”