Princeton University Athletics
Semi-Tough
May 23, 2000 | Men's Lacrosse
May 23, 2000
Princeton vs. Virginia
The site
Byrd Stadium * College Park, Md.
The date
Saturday, May 27, 2000 * approximately 3:00 p.m
The records
Princeton: 11-2 (6-0 Ivy League)
Virginia: 14-1
The seeds
Princeton: No. 3
Virginia: No. 2
The coaches
Princeton: Bill Tierney (15th season, 179-52) Virginia: Dom Starsia (18th season, 194-74)
The series
Tied, 7-7
Last meeting
Virginia defeated Princeton 15-8 * March 11, 2000
Today's Note of the Day
Yes Virginia -?Since the start of the 1996 season, Princeton is 61-4 against all opponents other than Virginia and 2-4 against Virginia.
Five more notes no media person should be without
In case you forgot -?Virginia defeated Princeton 15-8 in Charlottesville on March 11 in the second game of this season for both teams. Princeton led 4-2 in the first quarter before Virginia went on an 11-2 run. We are the champions, or they are -?Either Princeton or Virginia has won each of the last four national titles (Princeton in 1996, 1997, 1998, Virginia last year).
Tournament tested -?Princeton's .792 all-time NCAA tournament winning percentage (19-5) is the best of any team in lacrosse history.
The whammy -?Princeton is 15-0 in NCAA tournament games against teams other than Syracuse since 1992.
The other whammy -?Princeton has won six straight Final Four games at Byrd Stadium.
Others receiving votes
Semi tough -?Princeton is making its seventh Final Four appearance in the last nine years.
More semi -?Princeton is 5-1 all-time in NCAA semifinal games, with only a 1993 loss to Syracuse.
Quarterly report -?Princeton has been outscored 19-5 in the fourth quarter of its last five games combined. Princeton was outscored 4-0 by Maryland in the fourth quarter of last week's quarterfinal game.
More quarterly -?Princeton led Cornell 8-1, Dartmouth 9-1, Hobart 10-4 and Maryland 10-3 at the end of the third quarter of its last four wins. The final scores were 9-5, 10-7, 12-6 and 10-7.
Young guns -?Princeton had four freshmen (Owen Daly, Brad Dumont, Josh White, Sean Hartofilis) combine for five goals and one assist in the NCAA quarterfinal win over Maryland.
More Young -?Princeton had seven players score at least one goal in the quarterfinal win over Maryland. Of the seven, only Josh Sims had ever scored an NCAA tournament goal prior to that game.
D plus -?Princeton's starting defensive unit of goalie Trevor Tierney and defensemen Damien Davis, Ryan Mollett and Scott Farrell all made their first career NCAA tournament starts last week against Maryland.
Injury update -?B.J. Prager suffered a torn ACL against Cornell. Prager, Princeton's leading scorer at the time, has been out since and will miss the remainder of the season. Brian Lieberman, a freshman longstick, suffered a separated shoulder in the Cornell game. He was cleared to return last week, though he did not play against Maryland.
The B.J. factor -?B.J. Prager still ranks second on the team in goals scored with 23 (trailing only Josh Sims with 31), despite having missed five games with a torn ACL. No other Tiger is within nine goals of Prager.
More B.J. -?Princeton averaged 12.3 goals per game in eight games with B.J. Prager (out with a torn ACL) and 9.0 goals per game in five games without him.
Close encounters -?Of Princeton's 24 NCAA tournament games all-time, 14 have been decided by two goals or fewer. Princeton is 12-2 in these 14 games.
More close -?None of Princeton's 13 games has been decided by fewer than three goals.
History lesson -?Princeton defeated Virginia in the 1994 and 1996 NCAA championship games. Both games were won on a goal on the first possession of overtime by a Princeton player wearing No. 16 (Kevin Lowe in 1994, Jesse Hubbard in 1996) in the open end of Byrd Stadium.
More history -?Princeton began its season with a win over Johns Hopkins and a loss to Virginia. Princeton has won the national title each of the last two times it has started a season that way.
Three pointer -?Princeton is the third seed in the NCAA tournament. Princeton has won two of its five titles as the third seed, and the third seed has won six of the last nine tournaments.
Playing the field -?Princeton is 5-2 against teams in the NCAA tournament, with losses to Virginia and Syracuse and wins over Hofstra, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Hobart and Maryland.
More field -?Each of the four teams in the Final Four has played the other three this season. The head-to-head records: Syracuse 3-0, Virginia 2-1, Princeton 1-2, Johns Hopkins 0-3.
Still more field -?Princeton was outscored 31-12 in its losses to Virginia and Syracuse. Princeton outscored the five NCAA teams it defeated by a combined 57-38.
A league of their own -?Princeton has won six straight Ivy League championships and 31 straight Ivy League games.
In case it comes up -?Princeton has won its last four NCAA overtime games, including two championship games.
I'm honored -?Josh Sims was named the 2000 Ivy League Player of the Year, joining Kevin Lowe (1994), Jesse Hubbard (1996) and Jon Hess (1997) as Princeton players who have won the award.
More honored -?Attackman B.J. Prager, despite missing nearly one-third of the league season, defenseman Ryan Mollett and midfielder Josh Sims were named first-team All-Ivy League. Prager and Sims were unanimous selections.
Even more honored -?Josh Sims is the 19th player in history to be named first-team All-Ivy League three times.
Last honored -?B.J. Prager is the second Princeton player (along with Scott Bacigalupo in 1991 and 1992) to be named first-team All-Ivy League as both a freshman and sophomore.
Plus, minus -?Damien Davis scored as many goals (one) as he allowed his opponents to score in six Ivy League games.
Net results -?Trevor Tierney leads the nation in save percentage (.651) and is third in goals-against average (7.30).
More net -?Trevor Tierney led the Ivy League in goals-against average and save percentage in all games and league games only.
Still more net -?Trevor Tierney's 4.64 goals-against average in Ivy League games was the lowest since 1981, when Tom Wagner of Cornell had a 4.00.
No Joshing -?Josh Sims has 98 career goals, the most ever by a Princeton midfielder.
More Joshing -?Josh Sims has 31 goals this season. The record for goals in a season by a Princeton midfielder is 32, set by Sims his sophomore year.
More B.J. effect -?Matt Striebel had 17 assists in the eight games B.J. Prager played, of which 11 were on goals by Prager. Since then, Striebel has six assists in five games.
More B.J. -?B.J. Prager led the Ivy League in goals scored in league games with 16 and tied for the league lead in points with 19, despite missing one-third of the league season after his injury.
Even more B.J. -?B.J. Prager scored 16 goals in the 16 quarters before his injury.
Speak softly -?Princeton senior captain Chris Berrier, a shortstick for his entire lacrosse playing career through high school and college, moved to longstick in the last game of his senior regular season (against Hobart).
Be all that you can be -?Princeton freshman Josh White graduated from high school the same year as the current Tiger juniors. White was in the Army between high school and college.
The omen -?Damien Davis held five of his six Ivy League opponents without a goal.
More omen -?Damien Davis has held seven of his last nine opponents, including Maryland's Buggs Combs last week, without a goal.
Still more omen -?Damien Davis has held his last 10 opponents to a combined three goals.
Aw, shoot -?Since beginning the season with five goals in 40 shots (.125), Sean Hartofilis has nine goals in 26 shots (.346).
Getting the point -?Josh Sims and Matt Striebel are the only two Princeton players with at least one point in all 12 games.
Just win, baby -?Matt Striebel has been a member of four Ivy League championship teams at Princeton (three in lacrosse, one in soccer).
More win -?Matt Striebel is playing in his second NCAA tournament this school year. Striebel assisted on a goal late in regulation that sent the men's soccer team into overtime last fall against Virginia, where the Cavaliers won 2-1.
Okay, smart guy -?Josh Sims was a GTE/CoSIDA second-team Academic All-America a year ago and has twice been an Academic All-Ivy League selection. He was named to the District II Academic All-America team this year, and he is waiting to hear about national honors and Academic All-Ivy honors for this year.
Inside information -?Ryan Mollett's brother Brandon covers Division I lacrosse for Inside Lacrosse magazine.
Gender equity -?Princeton is the only school to make the Final Four in men's and women's lacrosse.
Sophomore jinx -?Brendan Tierney has 18 points this year as a sophomore (11 goals, seven assists) after having two points as a freshman (1-1).
Sibling rivalry -?Princeton senior Jake Kenney has two career goals, one of which came against his brother Derek, UVa's goalie, in Princeton's loss in Week 2.
Oh say can you see -?Princeton midfielder and face-off man Matt Bailer sang the national anthem prior to Princeton's game against Yale at Class of 1952 Stadium.