The men's lacrosse team finished its senior night with a powerful attack from the offense to overwhelm the Harvard defense for a 14-6 win. Princeton (8-4 overall, 3-2 Ivy League) has now clinched a berth in the Ivy League tournament, while Harvard (6-7, 2-3) has a shot at capturing the final spot.
"We can breather easier now,” head coach Chris Bates said. "There was a ton of pressure on this game, and this is how we want it, to play our best lacrosse going into the tournament."
The win was mostly an offensive effort by the Tigers, as they took 45 shots during the game, nearly doubling the Crimson's 23, giving Harvard little possession time in which to mount a comeback.
Though the offense stole the show, there were important developments on the defensive side of the ball for Princeton. Sophomore goalie Eric Sanschagrin started over freshman Matt O'Connor, who has been the starting goalie for the Tigers all season.
"Eric has consistently been a high-percentage stopper. We needed a spark; we thought he'd give us the best chance at winning," Bates said.
The game was just the second start of Sanschagrin's collegiate career.
Bates explained that he was confident that Sanschagrin could hold his own in the crease despite his lack of college experience.
"I asked him the other day how long he's been playing lacrosse, and he said, 'Since sixth grade,' just like all the other guys out here,” Bates said. "He doesn't get bothered in the crease, and I knew he would be able to play for us today."
The Tigers had some trouble clearing at the start of the match, committing four turnovers by the time six minutes had passed in first quarter.
Just over seven minutes into the first, senior attack Luke Armour scored the first goal for the Tigers after taking a pass from the right crease and crossing the ball to the left side of Crimson goalkeeper Harry Kreiger. A minute later, senior midfielder Jeff Froccaro and freshman midfielder Jake Froccaro made room around the crease to give sophomore midfielder Kip Orban an open shot for a quick second goal.
Princeton extended its lead further with the same scheme less than a minute later, with sophomore attack Mike MacDonald netting the goal.
The Crimson responded soon afterwards, when Devin Dwyer snuck a solo shot past Sanschagrin for the Crimson’s first score of the game.
Sanschagrin's cage could have been rattled near the end of the first after a misconnection between goalie and longpole left an open net for Harvard, but the Crimson could not capitalize. A minute later, however, Harvard’s Carl Zimmerman ran cross-field to cut through the Tiger defense for a solo shot with only one second left in the quarter.
With a two-goal lead going into the second quarter, Sanschagrin would not find many more challenges, as the Tiger offense took over the game.
Princeton scored three unanswered goals to close out the half while dominating possession time, and the Tiger lead held through the third, when they scored three more to enter the fourth quarter with a 12-3 lead.
Harvard netted three goals in the fourth, but at that point the match was solidly in the hands of the Tigers.
MacDonald was the leading scorer for the Tigers, scoring four goals during the night. He now has 53 goals in his career, making him only one of seven players in program history to have over 50 goals by sophomore year.
The match closes out the home season for the Tigers. The regular season will conclude next weekend when they play Cornell in the Big City classic at Metlife Stadium on Saturday.
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