Princeton University Athletics
Rocket Scientist
March 25, 2002 | Men's Lacrosse
March 25, 2002
Scott Farrell sits one semester away from being, literally, a rocket scientist. He's putting the finishing touches on his degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering, and part of that involves a senior independent project.
"It's an entrepreneurial endeavor," says Farrell. "My partner and I are trying to build an automotive safety device. It's sort of a warning system for a driver, a collision avoidance system."
Now in his fourth year as an engineering student, Farrell is working on a collision avoidance system.
Now in his fourth year as a starting defenseman for the defending NCAA champion lacrosse team, Farrell knows all about collisions, at least on the field.
"He's the latest in a line of crease defenseman," says Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "He's done everything we've asked of him."
In many ways, Farrell is the player that Tierney would think about first when he talks about the program he's built at Princeton. For Tierney, it's not about the All-Americas, the ones who have gotten all the attention. It's guys like Farrell, great players in their own right who have put team way ahead of anything else.
"On Memorial Day, after we won the championship, I apologized to him for not making an All-America team," says Tierney. "He told me that he had what he wanted. He's one of those guys who's been overlooked. It's been the fate of a lot of guys around here through the years, and so be it. He's so generous. So unselfish. He works so hard. I'm just thankful that I can say that in my 15 years at Princeton, I've had guys like that."
Farrell came to Princeton in 1999, on the heels of the Tigers' run to three straight NCAA championships. His older brother Jason was a defenseman at Princeton for all three of those championships, and he was a starter in the 1998 championship game win over Maryland after Christian Cook tore his ACL against Syracuse in the semifinals.
Jason was then a starter for his senior year in 1999. When Kurt Lunkenheimer suffered a torn ACL of his own that season, then-freshman Scott Farrell moved into the starting lineup immediately. He's started every game since.
"We really threw him out there blindly," says Tierney. "And he handled it. It's helped him become the player he is today."
Farrell came to Princeton from Corning, a little more than an hour from Rochester. He was valedictorian of his high school class and an all-state linebacker in football, but lacrosse was his best game. After visits to Johns Hopkins and Duke, he decided to join his brother at Princeton.
"I liked football more," he says. "But I was a better lacrosse player. Princeton was the best place for me. The lure of being able to play with my brother was too special."
The Farrells started side-by-side for much of that 1999 season, which ended with a loss to Syracuse in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Jason, also an engineer, took his three championship rings to work in New York City, while Scott entered the second phase of his Tiger career.
The 2000 season saw Scott Farrell welcome three new starters on a defensive unit that quickly became the best Bill Tierney has coached. Trevor Tierney became the full-time goalie after sharing the position in 1998 and 1999, and Ryan Mollett moved to close defense from the longstick midfield position. Freshman Damien Davis joined them in the starting lineup.
Together, those four would start every game the next two years. The 2000 season ended with a loss to Syracuse in the championship game, a result that was reversed last year. Princeton led the nation in scoring defense both years, and
"It was great to be part of that group," says Farrell. "We had the same cast of characters the last two years. The defense last year was the strong point of the team. We worked very well together."
At season's end, the accolades rolled in. Tierney and Mollett were first-team All-America and national player of the year at their positions, Mollett was the Ivy League Player of the Year. Davis was a second-team All-America pick. And Farrell? Honorable mention All-Ivy League.
"He was a victim of the people around him," his coach says. "Trevor and Ryan were seniors. Everyone knows Damien. He didn't take a backseat to anyone, and our guys all knew that."
Farrell's high school team lost back-to-back state championship games by one goal each. He made up for it in the tournament last year, when Princeton won three straight one-goal games to win the title.
"I thought I was jinxed there for awhile," he says. "Last year was the pinnacle of my athletic career. Especially to do it against Syracuse. They had handled us three straight times. To be the best, we were going to have to beat the best in the best situation. Even when they tied it [on Michael Powell's goal with 16 seconds to go in regulation before B.J. Prager won it 3:19 into overtime], I never thought that we'd lose."
Syracuse has possession of the ball in Princeton's end three times in overtime and never got a shot away.
"We had kept them down most of the game," says Farrell, whose younger sister Lori plays lacrosse at Union. "We just went back to that in overtime. We felt we'd be okay, even if it took more than 60 minutes. They put pressure on us, but we knew they would. We just tried to get the ball out, and our offense took care of the rest."
This year is off to a bit of a different start, with Tierney and Mollett gone and a new goalie and some new longsticks in the mix. The Tigers opened with losses to Johns Hopkins and Virginia before handling Hofstra last week.
Beyond Syracuse and Rutgers waits the Ivy season. Farrell will be playing for Princeton's eighth straight league title, as well as a possible fourth straight perfect league season for him. Should Princeton win its first three league games, it would break the Ivy record for longest winning streak, currently 39 by Cornell from 1972-79.
After that is the potential for another run in the NCAA tournament, and of course graduation.
"We have our concept," Farrell says. "The idea is to have a system in the car that alerts the driver to danger and tells the driver to turn away from there. Now we have to build it. We have a patent for the concept. After we build it, we'll try to get a patent for it and then maybe sell it to manufacturers."
He has one patent and would like to get another before he graduates. He has one NCAA championship ring as well, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what else he wants to add before he graduates.