Princeton University Athletics
Boyle-To-Doneger Leads Princeton Past Cornell
April 19, 2003 | Men's Lacrosse
April 19, 2003
Final Stats
Ithaca, N.Y. - Jason Doneger scored a career-high seven goals while Ryan Boyle added two goals and seven assists, six of which came on Doneger goals, to lead second-ranked Princeton to a convincing 17-9 win over No. 9 Cornell in front of 2,474 at Schoellkopf Field Saturday afternoon.
Princeton took control of the game when Doneger scored five straight goals in an 8:28 span of the late first half and early second half. Boyle assisted on all five goals.
Princeton's win was its eighth straight after an 0-2 start, and the Tigers remained unbeaten in the Ivy League at 4-0. Cornell fell to 7-4 and suffered its first Ivy loss in five games.
A Big Red win would have clinched the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and at least a share of the Ivy League title. Instead, Princeton needs to win one of its remaining two league games (against Dartmouth and Brown) to win at least a share of its ninth straight Ivy title. "Ryan's the best," Doneger said. "We've started to learn how each of us likes to do things. He's great at getting his hands free and feeding. He makes it easy."
Boyle's seven assists gave him 25 in four Ivy games, one shy of tying the league record for a six-game season (held jointly by Cornell's Pat Gallagher in 1972 and Cornell's Tim Goldstein in 1989). The seven assists also equalled his career high, as did his nine points. Doneger's seven goals were his career best, breaking the five he had against Syracuse earlier this season.
"When you're in the heat of the game, you don't think about anything other than trying to get open and get shots," said Doneger. "Ryan puts the ball right where you need it. It was a good day for us."
Princeton took the lead at 1-0 on Brad Dumont's goal 56 seconds in and kept it for the final 59:04. Cornell twice made it a one-goal lead in the first quarter at 2- 1and 3-2, and it was 5-3 Tigers after an up-and-down first 15 minutes.
The teams traded goals to start the second quarter, including Doneger's first on an unassisted move that gave Princeton six goals by six different players. After that, it was all Doneger and Boyle.
Doneger's five straight made it 11-4 midway through the third quarter before Cornell's Dave Pittard would stop the run. Anthony Perna and Sean Hartofilis answered immediately, though, and it was 15-5 after three quarters.
It was 17-6 Princeton before Cornell scored three goals in the final 1:24. The Tigers would score their 17 goals on just 35 shots.
"The key to the game was that we started the second half the way we ended the first half," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney, whose team led 9-4 at the half and scored twice before Cornell had possession in the third quarter. "If they had gotten the first few in the second half, it would have been a much different game."
Boyle now has two goals and 13 assists in his first two games back after being out two weeks with a hamstring pull. Doneger has 28 goals on the season, three behind Hartofilis for the team lead.
Princeton also played without starting defenseman Ricky Schultz, who missed the game with an ankle sprain. His place was taken by Oliver Barry, who went from being a shortstick middie to a longstick close defenseman and had to guard Cornell's Sean Greenhalgh, who was second nationally in goals-per-game behind Hartofilis coming in. Barry held Greenhalgh to one goal on the day.
Julian Gould made 11 saves while allowing six of the Cornell goals.
Andrew Collins led Cornell with two goals and three assists.
Princeton defeated Cornell for the eighth straight time and the 13th time in the last 14 years. Cornell and Princeton have combined to win 37 of the first 47 Ivy League men's lacrosse championships.
Princeton has a non-league game at Loyola Tuesday (3).
The Princeton-Cornell game can be seen on College Sports Television Wednesday at 7.