Princeton University
Johns Hopkins
Prager, Gould Lead Princeton Past Hopkins Into NCAA Final
May 25, 2002 | Men's Lacrosse
May 25, 2002
Quotes
Piscataway, N.J. - B.J. Prager scored five goals and Julian Gould made five of his 12 saves in the fourth quarter to lead Princeton to an 11-9 win over top-seeded Johns Hopkins in the NCAA semifinals in front of 23,123 at Rutgers Stadium.
Princeton will now Syracuse in the NCAA championship game (Monday, 11 a.m., ESPN, WHWH, www.goprincetontigers.com) for the third straighht year. Syracuse won the 2000 final 13-7, while Princeton won the 2001 final 10-9 in overtime on a B.J. Prager goal.
Syracuse defeated Virginia 12-11 in double overtime in the second semifinal Saturday afternoon.
"We got the lead and had to hang on," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "We were very fortunate. Julian made some big saves, and we scored some timely goals."
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Midfielder Greg Golaszewski, left, and defenseman Brian Lieberman take down Johns Hopkins' Peter LaSueur in the second half of Princeton's 11-9 win in the NCAA Division I semifinals at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. |
Princeton won its seventh straight NCAA semifinal game and improved to 8-1 in semifinal games overall. The Tigers are 6-1 in championship games, four of which have been in overtime, including last year's 10-9 win over Syracuse.
Princeton also improved to 25-6 all-time in the NCAA tournament. Of the 31 games, 20 have been decided by two goals or fewer, and Princeton is now 18-2 in those 20 games.
"We do a lot in practice with different situations," said Tierney, whose team has won eight straight games to go from 2-4 to the NCAA final. "But in the end, it's still a game with a ball and sticks. We've been there before, and you just have to play the same, whether it's 30,000 or 3,000 in the stands."
Princeton, the fourth-seed, led 5-1 after the first quarter and 7-2 in the second before Hopkins made the first of several runs. The Blue Jays cut it to two three times but would get no closer.
Gould made three of his five fourth-quarter saves in the final three minutes to keep Hopkins from getting within one. Hopkins outshot Princeton 12-4 in the fourth quarter, but each team scored two goals.
"I feed off the defense," Gould said. "We complement each other. I have the luxury of playing with those guys in front of me. I didn't see as many shots in the first half. You have to play like it's 0-0, no matter what the situation."
Brad Dumont scored two goals for Princeton, while Brendan Tierney had a goal and two assists and Ryan Boyle had three assists.
Adam Donger and Kyle Barrie scored three times each for Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays defeated Princeton 8-5 in the first game of the season back on March 2.
Princeton (10-4) 3-2-2-2 -- 11 Johns Hopkins (12-2) 1-2-4-2 -- 9
SCORING
Princeton (goals-assists)
B.J. Prager 5-0, Brad Dumont 2-0, Ryan Boyle 0-3, Brendan Tierney 1-2, Matt Trevenen 0-2, Josh White 1-0, Sean Hartofilis 1-0, Owen Daly 1-0
Johns Hopkins
Adam Doneger 3-1, Kyle Barrie 3-0, Peter LeSueur 1-3, Matt Hanna 1-0, Kevin Boland 1-0, Kyle Harrison 0-1, Conor Ford 0-1
SHOTS
Princeton 27, Johns Hopkins 33
SAVES
Princeton Julian Gould 12; Johns Hopkins Nick Murtha 8