Princeton University Athletics
Opening Statement
March 04, 2000 | Men's Lacrosse
March 4, 2000
Baltimore - Trevor Tierney made 22 saves in goal and Matt Striebel scored a career high four goals as the new-look Princeton Tigers opened the men's lacrosse season with a 15-11 win over Johns Hopkins in front of 6,292 at Homewood Field in Baltimore.
Princeton is now 9-3 in its last 12 games against Johns Hopkins after going 0-24 in the 24 prior to that.
"This is a great way to start the season," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "Anytime you get out of this place with a win, you have to be thrilled."
Princeton, which has won five of the last eight national championships, started only one player (Josh Sims) who started in the Tigers' last NCAA championship game in 1998. The completely rebuilt Tigers started three freshmen and played a total of seven regularly. Princeton also relied much more on depth than in the past, as Tierney used 29 players through the first three quarters and picked up goals from nine different players.
The win came against a Hopkins team that had defeated Princeton 12-11 last year in the opener after Princeton had led 9-3 at one point. Hopkins outscored Princeton 5-1 in the fourth quarter of that game, but there would be no repeat comeback this time after Princeton led 13-9 after three. "I think in the past we've been prone to lulls at times," said Coach Tierney. "This year, we were able to put in fresh faces, keep rotating people. It helped us considerably when we needed to answer them."
Princeton never trailed in the game, which was tied only at 1-1 and 2-2. It was 7-5 Princeton at intermission, but Hopkins scored early in the third quarter to make it 7-6. Princeton answered that with a four-goal run, getting scores from Striebel, Sims, B.J. Prager and Brendan Tierney to built it to 11-6. The Blue Jays would get no closer than three the rest of the way.
"I thought we played a pretty good defensive game," said Princeton longstick Ryan Mollett. "And everytime they started to make any sort of run, our offense was able to answer."
Trevor Tierney, now entrenched as the starting goalie as a junior, came up with the most saves in a game by a Princeton goalie since Scott Bacigalupo had 24 against Loyola in 1991. Tierney was playing behind a defense that featured Mollett, as well as sophomore Scott Farrell and freshmen Damien Davis and Brian Lieberman.
"I was definitely nervous coming into the game," said Davis, who grew up in Baltimore. "I didn't sleep much last night. Once the game started, we were fine. With the system we have in place, it's just a matter of knowing your role and doing what you're asked to do."
Striebel, Princeton's leader in assists last year, had one assist with his four goals, while two-time first-team All-America Sims had two goals and three assists. Prager had two goals to stretch his streak of consecutive games with at least one to 12.
Freshman Josh White had two goals as well, while classmates Owen Daly and Sean Hartofilis also scored their first collegiate goals. Chris Berrier and Dan Clark had the other two goals, while Chris Harrington had an assist.
Princeton, which was outshot 58-46, had a 16-14 edge on face-offs. The Tigers are at Virginia next Saturday in a matchup of teams who have won the last four national titles.
Princeton (1-0) 4-3-6-2 - 15 Johns Hopkins (0-1) 3-2-4-2 - 11
Scoring Princeton Matt Striebel 4 goals-1 assist, Josh Sims 2-3, B.J. Prager 2-0, Josh White 2-0, Sean Hartofilis 1-0, Owen Daly 1-0, Chris Berrier 1-0, Brendan Tierney 1-0, Dan Clark 1-0, Chris Harrington 0-1 Johns Hopkins Dan Denihan 4-1, A.J. Haugen 3-2, Bobby Benson 1-1, Chris Harned 1-1, Conor Denihan 1-0, Justin Shaberly 1-0, Rob Frattarola 0-1
Saves Princeton Trevor Tierney 22 Johns Hopkins Brian Carcaterra 12
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