Zach Currier didn’t seem to have much of a problem against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. For that matter, neither did the rest of Princeton lacrosse.
The junior midfielder contributed four goals, three assists and seven points as the Tigers (1-0, 0-0 Ivy League) rolled over NJIT (0-3 overall) on aSaturdaymorning that seemed more like April than February.
The two teams traded initial goals to start the match, with Currier striking first for Princeton. However, the midfielder also went on to score the next two goals of the match, starting off a 12-0 run that culminated in a 13-1 halftime advantage. From there, the Tigers simply coasted over their overmatched opponent---scoring the opening goal of the second half, holding a 17-3 third quarter advantage and ultimately walking away with a 21-4 rout.
The Tigers struck from all sides: twelve different players scored over the course of the day. Sophomore attacker Riley Thompson had a stellar outing, scoring three goals and dishing out two assists, both to freshman attacker Dawson McKenzie. Senior attacker Ryan Ambler also contributed two goals and three assists, beating out Kip Orban ’15 to move into 20thplace all-time at Princeton for goals scored. Three other freshmen also notched goals: midfielder Charlie Durbin found the net twice while also scooping up five ground balls and winning seven out of ten faceoffs and attackers Carter Flaig and Emmet Cordrey also scored. Overall, the Tigers outshot their opponent, 42-26.
On the defensive end, senior long-stick midfielder Sam Gravitte continued his junior-year successes by contributing two caused turnovers and an assist, while senior goalie Matt O’Connor made four saves and allowed no goals in his stint in the net.
The game offered Princeton a valuable opportunity to test the depth of its roster: every healthy player, including all four Tiger goalies, saw playing time, while the plethora of scoring freshmen also bodes well for the years to come.
With this opening win under their belts, Princeton will now look forward to a much tougher run on the road in the weeks ahead. The Tigers will travel to Long Islandnext Saturdayto face Hofstra (1-0), who opened their season that same day by defeating No. 5 North Carolina 10-5 and promise to be a tough opponent. From there, Princeton will take on No. 6 Johns Hopkins before returning home to face No. 4 Maryland and opening Ivy League play.
In the 2015 season, the Tigers battled all the way to the Ivy League championship, before barely falling to Yale 11-10 and missing out on selections to the NCAA tournament. However, last year’s squad was still driven in large part by Zack Currier, who made the Ivy All-Tournament team as a junior and whose start on Saturday promises even brighter things for the men’s lacrosse squad and their 2016 season.
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