Men's Lacrosse: Princeton sees No. 8 UNC to begin Classic

The rematch comes a year after the Tar Heels handed Princeton a 5-9 loss at Class of 1952 Stadium. North Carolina’s relentless offense managed to rip 39 shots while Princeton produced only 26. On the other side of the field, the Tar Heels’ swarming defense held the Tigers to 10 on-goal shots the entire game. Junior midfielder Jeff Froccaro, who was held scoreless despite being the Tigers’ second-leading goal-scorer of 2011, remembers North Carolina as a defensively powerful squad that exploited Princeton’s weaknesses effectively.

“Last year UNC used their defense’s size and speed to disrupt our relatively inexperienced offense,” he said.

Four of the Tigers’ top five scorers last season were underclassmen, and the additional year of experience has helped them tremendously. Through its first three games thus far, this year’s offense has generated an average of 11.0 goals per game, a drastic improvement over last season’s average of 7.1. Sophomore midfielder Tom Schreiber, who led Princeton last year in both goals and assists with 16 and 13, has also benefitted from the extra time. One-fourth of the way through this season, he has already scored half as many goals as he did in 2011, racking up eight goals and seven assists.

Froccaro feels confident that Schreiber and the rest of the offense have matured sufficiently to avoid a repeat performance of their previous meeting with the Tar Heels.

“This year’s offense is more experienced and talented than last year’s,” he said. “We’re expecting good results offensively.”

The Tigers, whose 2011 face-off winning percentage of 41 was the worst in the Ivy League, will have their hands full competing against the Tar Heels at midfield. Through five games, North Carolina has won 64 percent of its face-offs — the second most of any team in the country. Princeton has made face-offs a primary focus area this year and has improved from last season to a respectable 58 percent thus far. Senior midfielder Peter Smyth and junior midfielder Bobby Lucas should have a busy day trying to contain one of the nation’s top face-off men, midfielder R.G. Keenan, who has won 71 percent of his matchups.

Following each face-off, the Tigers will have to battle for every possession they can — the Tar Heels also rank third in the nation in ground ball recoveries, averaging a monstrous 38 per game. Princeton will need to play a physical game if they hope to match North Carolina’s impressive play on the ground.

The Tigers will also face former Princeton attackman Jack McBride ’11, who received a medical redshirt last season and enrolled at UNC as a graduate student.

Senior defenseman Chad Wiedmaier, a starter who has been awarded first-team All-Ivy honors in all three of his seasons so far at Princeton, understands that the Tigers have an important challenge ahead of them. Wiedmaier, who has never defeated the Tar Heels during his Princeton career, marks last year’s loss to North Carolina as a turning point in the subpar 2011 season.

“For us, [beating] this team is extremely important,” he said. “Last year when we lost to Carolina, that was kind of the beginning of the end.”

The defeat sparked a four-game losing streak for the Tigers, who finished the season with a 4-8 record. Wiedmaier fears facing similar consequences if his team cannot rise to the occasion this weekend, pointing out that his squad can either start the year at an impressive 3-1 record or a mediocre 2-2. He added that the Tar Heels are not a team Princeton should take lightly and that North Carolina’s current two-game losing streak has not affected the Tigers’ sense of urgency in preparation for Saturday.

“That really doesn’t matter to us,” he said. “They’re going to fight. They really need this win.”