Princeton University Athletics
Davis, Defense Lead Princeton To Costly Win
April 22, 2000 | Men's Lacrosse
April 22, 2000
Damien Davis and a swarming Princeton defense led the Tigers to 9-5 win over Cornell to clinch at least a tie for their sixth straight Ivy League championship. The win was Princeton's 30th straight in the league and gave the five-time NCAA champions an automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament.
Princeton can clinch an outright Ivy championship next Saturday at Dartmouth.
Princeton and Cornell had come into the game tied for first in the Ivy League, and the automatic bid would be awarded to the winner. Princeton (8-1, 5-0 Ivy League) took control by holding the Big Red scoreless for a 43:36 stretch from the first quarter to the fourth quarter, by which time the Tigers had built an 8-1 lead.
The win was a costly one, however, as the Tigers lost their leading goal scorer, B.J. Prager, to a probable torn anterior cruciate ligament in the first quarter. Prager, who had scored a goal and added an assist in the first seven minutes, was injured as he tried to check Big Red goalie Justin Cynar on a clearing attempt. Princeton also lost freshman defenseman Brian Lieberman, another starter, to what was thought to be either a shoulder separation or a broken collarbone. Both players are likely to miss the rest of the season. The Princeton-Cornell game was the opener in a doubleheader that drew a crowd of 4,412 to the Class of 1952 Stadium for the largest crowd in the five-year history of the facility. Syracuse defeated Penn 9-4 in the second game of the event, and Princeton and Syracuse will now meet Sunday (1:05). The Tigers and the Orangemen have combined to win seven of the last eight national titles, and Princeton defeated Syracuse 15-14 in four overtimes in the regular season last year at Syracuse on the back end of the same back-to-back schedule.
"It was a devastating part of a great day," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney, refering to the injuries.
Prager assisted on Rob Torti's goal to start the scoring, and Sean Hartofilis took advantage of a turnover to make it 2-0 Princeton five minutes in. After Cornell's J.P. Schalk scored to cut the lead in half, Prager scored his team-leading 22nd midway through the quarter, giving him at least one goal in 20 straight games. He was hurt on the sequence after the face-off.
"We have to have some other guys step up now," said Princeton's Matt Striebel, who had two assists on the day and who has 17 for the year, of which 11 have come on goals by Prager. "It's a tough loss for us, but we have to keep going."
Davis led the defensive effort for the Tigers, who have outscored their five Ivy opponents 31-6 in the first half. Davis held Cornell's Sean Steinwald, the league's leading scorer who had 34 goals coming in, without a goal, marking the fourth straight time he has shut out his man. Steinwald added a late assist after Davis had left the game as Cornell scored three times in the final three minutes.
"I just tried to keep pushing him away from the net," said Davis. "I didn't want to let him get his shots and get the ball where he wanted."
Princeton's Trevor Tierney made 10 saves while allowing the five goals. Princeton led 6-1 and intermission and 8-1 at the end of the third quarter.
"Damien was great," said Bill Tierney. "We gave him his assignment, and he did it well. If you tell freshmen that they're not capable of doing some things, then they'll think they can't. We just let him go out and play."
Hartofilis was the only player on either team to score more than one goal.
Saturday, April 22, 2000 Class of 1952 Stadium * Princeton, N.J. Attendance 4412
1 2 3 4 Final Cornell (8-3, 4-1 Ivy League) 1 0 0 4 5 Princeton (8-1, 5-0 Ivy League) 4 2 2 1 9
Princeton Scoring Goals -- Sean Hartofilis 2, BJ Prager 1, Josh Sims 1, Brad Dumont 1, Owen Daly 1, Rob Torti 1, Brendan Tierney 1, Josh White 1 Assists?--?Matt Streibel 2, Brad Dumont 2, BJ Prager 1, Josh Sims 1, Matt Bailer 1,
Cornell Scoring Goals-- JP Schalk 1, Chris Packard 1, Craig Kaufman 1, Addison Sollog 1, Michael Egan 1 Assists?--?Andrew Schmidt 1
Goalies Princeton -- Trevor Tierney 60 minutes, 5 goals-against, 10 saves Cornell -- Justin Cynar 60 minutes, 9 goals-against, 11 saves