Princeton University Athletics
Finally, It's Princeton And Syracuse
May 27, 2001 | Men's Lacrosse
May 27, 2001
Princeton vs. Syracuse
The site Rutgers Stadium * Piscataway, N.J.
The date Monday, May 28, 2001 * 11:06 a.m.
The records Princeton: 13-1 (6-0 Ivy League), Syracuse: 13-2
The seeds Princeton: No. 2, Syracuse: No. 1
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (17th season, 193-60), Syracuse: John Desko (third season, 40-8)
The series Syracuse leads 9-5
Last meeting Syracuse defeated Princeton 14-8 * March 24, 2001
Orange crush - Since March 18, 2000, Princeton is 24-0 against all other teams and 0-3 against Syracuse.
More crush - Syracuse has outscored Princeton 43-19 in the three meetings between the schools the last two seasons, including 14-2 in the first quarter.
We are the champions, or they are - Princeton and Syracuse have combined to win 11 of the last 13 NCAA championships.
Oranges and oranges - Princeton and Syracuse are meeting in the championship game for the second straight year. Syracuse defeated Princeton 13-7 in the 2000 title game at Maryland. The whammy - Princeton is 3-4 against Syracuse and 18-0 against all other teams in NCAA tournament games since 1992.
You guys again? - Since the start of the 1992 season, Princeton and Syracuse have met 10 times. Syracuse has won six games by a total of 36 goals (6.0 per game), Princeton has won four games by a total of five goals (1.3 per game).
Comparative shopping - Princeton has defeated both teams that defeated Syracuse this season (Johns Hopkins, Loyola).
History lesson - Princeton is 5-1 all-time in NCAA finals.
More history - Princeton is 1-1 in NCAA finals against Syracuse, having won in 1992 and lost in 2000.
Hart-stopping - Sean Hartofilis has scored 14 goals in five career NCAA tournament games.
Face it - Princeton has won 142 of 292 face-offs (48.6%), Syracuse leads Division I, having won better than 70% of its face-offs.
More face - Syracuse won 14 of 24 face-offs in the first meeting between the schools this season. Princeton freshman Drew Casino was 3 for 6 against Syracuse's Chris Cercy in that game.
What'd ya' tell 'em in the locker room, coach? - Princeton has won 17 NCAA tournament games since 1994, the Tigers have trailed or been tied at the half in 10 of those 17 wins.
Tournament tested - Princeton's NCAA tournament winning percentage (22-6, .786) is the best in Division I history.
More tournament - Of Princeton's 28 NCAA tournament games, 17 have been decided by one or two goals. Princeton is 15-2 in those 17 games.
D plus - Princeton leads Division I in scoring defense (5.57 goals per game).
Highly offensive - Syracuse scored 14 goals against Princeton the first meeting this season between the schools, the most by a Tiger opponent.
Injury update - Princeton middie Kyle Baugher suffered a broken wrist against Towson.
Ryans' hope - Princeton's Ryan Mollett is the 2001 Ivy League Player of the Year. Princeton's Ryan Boyle is the unanimous 2001 Ivy League Rookie of the Year.
More Ryan - Ryan Mollett is the fourth defenseman and the first since 1985 to be named Ivy League Player of the Year.
We're honored - Ryan Mollett was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection. Princeton had four other first-team selections: goalie Trevor Tierney, midfielders Rob Torti and Matt Striebel and attackman Sean Hartofilis.
More honored - Defenseman Damien Davis and attackmen Ryan Boyle and B.J. Prager were second-team All-Ivy League selections. Defenseman Scott Farrell earned honorable mention.
Net results - Trevor Tierney leads Division I in save percentage (.678) and goals-against average (5.4).
Back on track - B.J. Prager, whose 31-game goal-scoring streak was snapped in the quarterfinals against Loyola, had three goals in the semifinal win over Towson.
Goal oriented - After scoring one goal in his first two NCAA tournament games, B.J. Prager had three goals against Towson in the semifinals.
Can you spare a dime? - Princeton had 10 players with at least one assist in the semifinal game.
Good Will hunting - Will MacColl, who did not make the list of players who dressed for the NCAA tournament last year as a freshman, has two goals and one assist in two NCAA games this season.
Boyle-ing point - Ryan Boyle is the second Princeton freshman ever to reach 50 points in a season (Kevin Lowe, 55 in 1991).
More Boyle-ing - Ryan Boyle has five assists in two NCAA tournament games.
Last Boyle-ing - Ryan Boyle was a four-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Streaking - Sean Hartofilis has scored at least one goal in 18 straight games and at least two goals in eight straight games.
Get to the point - Sean Hartofilis, Ryan Boyle and Matt Striebel have at least one point in all 14 games this season.
Been there, done that - Matt Striebel is appearing in his fifth NCAA tournament, four with the men's lacrosse team and one with the men's soccer team.
More been there - Matt Striebel has 11 career NCAA tournament assists, 10 in lacrosse and one in soccer.
Career oriented - Matt Striebel has a career-high 17 goals this season.
Daly news - Owen Daly leads Princeton with a .526 shooting percentage (10 goals, 19 shots).
Oh say can you see - Princeton midfielders Matt Bailer and Drew Casino sang the national anthem prior to Princeton's regular-season finale against Hobart.
Mr. May - Brad Dumont has three goals and three assists in five NCAA tournament games, an average of 1.3 points per game. He has averaged 0.67 points per game in 24 career regular season games.
A league of their own - Princeton has won seven straight Ivy League championships and eight in the last nine years.
More league - Princeton has won 37 straight Ivy League games. The all-time record is 39, set by Cornell from 1972-79.
Just win, baby - Princeton has averaged 12.6 wins per year since 1990. Prior to that, Princeton averaged 6.9 wins per year for the first 79 years of the program.
May madness - Princeton is playing in its 12th straight NCAA tournament. Prior to the beginning of its current streak, Princeton had never before played in an NCAA tournament.
Seed-lings - Princeton has won five NCAA championships but has been the No. 1 seed only once (1997).
Another league - Princeton outscored its six Ivy League opponents by a combined 88-21 overall, 49-5 at home and 44-13 in the first half.
Veterans day - Princeton has used the same starting defensive unit (goalie Trevor Tierney plus longsticks Ryan Mollett, Damien Davis and Scott Farrell) in every game the last two seasons.
More D - Princeton allowed 3.5 goals per game in Ivy League games (21 in six games), the lowest total by a league school in 27 years.
Can you spare a dime? - B.J. Prager has scored 29 goals, Ryan Boyle has an assist on 16 of them.
More dimes - Rob Torti had 12 assists this season after having five his first three seasons.
Still more dimes - Matt Striebel is seventh all-time at Princeton with 72 career assists. He needs 12 to tie Bo Willis '53 for sixth.
Moving up the charts - B.J. Prager is 13th all-time at Princeton in goals scored with 80. He needs two to tie Jon Hess '98 for 12th and three to tie David Heubeck '80 for 11th.
20-20 - Ryan Boyle needs four goals to become the 14th player in Princeton history and first since Jon Hess in 1997 to have at least 20 goals and 20 assists in the same season.
Clunk - Princeton's opponents are shooting 19.1% for the season (78 for 409).
Surging - Princeton has won 10 straight games.
On the banks of the old Raritan - Princeton has won 10 straight games on the Rutgers campus (four in the NCAA tournament, five against Rutgers). Princeton's last loss at Rutgers was a 1993 regular-season loss to North Carolina in a game moved to Piscataway because of snow.
Finally - The last time Princeton won the national championship (1998), the Tigers finished the regular season ranked first at 11-1, were seeded second in the NCAA tournament, received a bye in the first round and then played in the quarterfinals at Hofstra before advancing to the Final Four at Rutgers.