Princeton University Athletics
Balanced Offense Handles Hofstra 10-5
March 17, 2001 | Men's Lacrosse
March 17, 2001
Hempstead, N.Y. - Junior attackman B.J. Prager was one of four Tigers to score two goals as No. 2 Princeton (3-0) defeated No. 18 Hofstra (0-4) by a score of 10-5 on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra Stadium. Prager extended his goal-scoring streak to 22 games with a short-handed attempt in the third quarter, while Owen Daly, Sean Hartofilis and Ryan Boyle each added two goals for Princeton.
Princeton got on the board first as Daly scored his first goal of the season at 4:02 in the opening quarter off a feed from Matt Striebel who had worked the ball behind the Hofstra net. Boyle then put the Tigers ahead 2-0 with his first of two goals in the quarter. Boyle and Daly each scored again before the break to give Princeton a 4-1 lead after one. The second quarter opened with a qiuck goal by Sean Hartofilis just 55 seconds in, before both teams defenses settled in. Both teams were kept off the scoreboard for the next 12 minutes until Hartofilis connected on an unassisted tally at 12:51. Freshman Jason Doneger finished out the quarter with his first collegiate goal off a pass from Ryan Mollett with just seven seconds left in the half.
The Tigers took a 7-1 lead into the locker room as the Princeton defense continued to hold Hofstra scoreless through the third quarter, despite being outshot 18-2 by the Pride to open the second half. Prager extended the advantage with the only goal of the period at 10:04, and in so doing also extended his goal-scoring streak to 22 games. Prager had missed Princeton's last game against Virginia with a slight shoulder separation, but returned to the lineup the afternoon and scored two straight goals to open a 9-1 lead early in the fourth quarter.
It looked as though the Tigers were on their way to their most lopsided win of the young season, leading the Pride 9-2 with less than five minutes remaining in the contest. However, the Princeton defense allowed a sequence of three Hofstra goals in a span of 13 seconds to close the gap to 9-5 at the 11-minute mark. Scott Dooley forced an interception and scored at 10:41 for the third Pride goal and Doug Shanahan won the next two faceoffs for Hofstra, both of which led to quick goals.
The Tigers settled down in the final minutes of the game and Matt Striebel took advatange of an empty net as Hofstra played take-away defense, giving Princeton the 10-5 victory.
Trevor Tierney made 14 saves in goal for the Tigers, while J.P Brazel had six stops for Hofstra. Princeton was outshot in the contest 40-30, including an 18-2 disadvantage in the third quarter. The Tigers wre 1-for-4 on extra-man opportunities, while Hofstra was 0-for-3.
Princeton returns to action next weekend against No. 1 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in upstate New York.