Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Harvard
Boyle's Nine-Point Day Leads Princeton Past Harvard 18-4
April 13, 2002 | Men's Lacrosse
April 13, 2002
Ryan Boyle had a career-high nine points with four goals and five assists as Princeton rolled past Harvard 18-4 in men's lacrosse at Jordan Field.
The victory improved Princeton to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the Ivy League as the Tigers won their third straight. Harvard fell to 4-5, 0-3.
"I was worried sick about that game," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "I think Harvard is an outstanding team. This is a great win for us."
The victory, coupled with Cornell's 12-6 win over Dartmouth, sets up a huge game for the Tigers next Saturday (April 20) at home against the Big Red. A Cornell win would end Princeton's run of seven straight Ivy League championships, a Princeton win would keep the Tigers on pace for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Princeton, who would be a bubble team for the tournament without the automatic bid, has won six NCAA championships in 10 years, including last year's. "We've talked about how important every game is now," said Princeton's Owen Daly, who had three goals and an assist. "Ever since we lost to Yale [15-13 in the Ivy opener, ending the Tigers 37-game league winning streak], we've had to treat every game as a playoff game, an elimination game. Today was another one, and now next week is another one."
Princeton led 1-0 on Dan Clark's goal 3:39 into the game, but Harvard goalie Jake McKenna made six saves for the rest of the quarter, which ended at 1-0.
"He is a very active goalie," Daly said. "He made some nice saves in the first quarter. We had to keep shooting, and we had to keep putting shots on the cage."
McKenna would go on to make 26 saves in the face of 54 Princeton shots, and the Tigers steadily wore McKenna down in the second quarter. The Tigers scored eight times in the quarter to build the lead to 9-0 before the Crimson scored a late one to get on the board before intermission.
Boyle scored four goals and had one assist in the second quarter. He would go on to have four more second half assists, giving him nine points. His previous career high of eight points came a year ago against Penn (2 g, 6 a).
Princeton also got three goals and an assist from Brendan Tierney. Sean Hartofilis and Brad Dumont had two goals each.
Julian Gould made 13 saves while allowing three goals while playing into the fourth quarter. Damien Davis guarded Harvard's Matt Primm, who was leading the Crimson in both goals and assists, and held him without a point.
Alex Vap won 15 of 25 face-offs and had a goal and assist. He was the only Crimson player with more than one point.
Harvard lost for the first time this season at home.
"We knew they were going to be tough," Daly said. "They have very good players, and we knew they play well at home. We did what we had to do, and now we have to come back next week again. It's not going to be easy."
No. 11 Princeton (5-4, 2-1) 1 8 4 5 -- 18
Harvard (4-5, 0-3) 0 1 2 1 -- 4
Scoring
Princeton (goals-assists)
Ryan Boyle 4-5, Owen Daly 3-1, Brendan Tierney 3-1, Sean Hartofilis 2-1, Brad Dumont 2-0, Brendan Fallon 1-0, B.J. Prager 1-1, Josh White 1-0, Dan Clark 1-0, Kyle Baugher 0-1
Harvard (goals-assists)
Alex Vap 1-1, Doug Logigian 1-0, Derek Nowak 1-0, Michael Baly 1-0
Goalies
Princeton
Julian Gould 49 minutes, 3 goals-against, 13 saves, Matthew Larkin 11 minutes, 1 goal-against, 2 saves
Harvard
Jake McKenna 60 minutes, 18 goals-against, 26 saves
Shots
Princeton 54, Harvard 32
Attendance 1,244