No. 10 Tigers look to claw past Maryland

No. 10 men’s lacrosse (3-0 overall) will face its third Top 20 opponent in three weeks as the Tigers travel to face No. 9 Maryland (3-1). A win would put an exclamation mark on Princeton’s pre-conference play — Ivy League rivals Penn follow the Terps on the schedule — and secure its place among the nation’s top teams.

Saturday’s matchup embodies the classic “irresistible force vs. immovable object” paradox. Princeton’s offense, one of the best in the nation, ranks seventh nationally in goals per game (14.67). Appearing unstoppable at times, senior attackman Mike MacDonald leads the Tigers in points with 19 off of 10 goals and nine assists. His fellow Canadian, sophomore midfielder Zach Currier, has emerged as one of the nation’s best young players. His outstanding effort against Johns Hopkins (5 points, 8 ground balls and 6-8 faceoff wins) earned him NCAA Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Having held their first four opponents to an average of 5.25 goals per game, the Terps rank first in NCAA Division I scoring defense. This absurdly low mark is due in large part to the 12-3 embarrassment of Drexel University last weekend in College Park, Md., as well as the season opening drubbing of the Naval Academy by a score of 8-1.

Long stick midfielder Matt Neufeldt has been prolific for Maryland of late. In a win over Penn, the Illinois native picked up three ground balls while causing five turnovers, before helping stifle Drexel with four turnovers and five ground ball collections.

Princeton shooters will have to be even more precise than usual this Saturday, as Maryland goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr ranks first in the nation in save percentage with a mark of 68.3. What’s remarkable is that Bernlohr has emerged this year as one of the nation’s top netminders following the first team All-America campaign of Terrapin Nick Amato. The Pennsylvania native Amato was the first-ever goalie to be named first team All-ACC four times.

The Tigers will be glad they won’t be facing Amato, but perhaps even more glad that they missed first team All-America midfielder Mike Chanenchuk, the Terps offensive dynamo who graduated in 2014. The Long Island native matriculated at Princeton and was unanimously selected as Ivy League Rookie of the Year for 2010.

Despite its star man’s graduation, Maryland retains much of the core which carried it to the NCAA Tournament semifinals in 2014. Sophomore attackman Matt Rambo, scorer of 30 goals in 2014, has started strong with 12 points off of 8 goals and 4 assists.

Senior Princeton goalkeeper Eric Sanschagrin will direct the effort to slow the Maryland offense. In his first year as a starter, Sanschagrin has averaged an impressive 12.33 saves per game.

A young backline stands in front of the senior, with two sophomores and a freshman likely starting at close defense. First year defenseman Aran Roberts won Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors for his two ground balls and two created turnovers against the Blue Jays, including a clutch takeaway late in the contest.

It has been some time since Maryland featured on Princeton’s regular season schedule. The last non-playoff meeting between the two teams was in 1977 during the unremarkable administration of President Jimmy Carter. Prior to that point, the Terps had held a dominating 28-7-1 series lead over the Tigers in an intermittent rivalry which stretches back to 1927.

Those acquainted with the golden age of Princeton lacrosse may be most familiar with Maryland as the side twice consecutively routed by the legendary 1997-98 NCAA champion Orange and Black squads. Since 1997, the Tigers hold a 5-1 advantage over the Terps, all in playoff contests.