Princeton University
Syracuse
Face It: No. 3 Syracuse Tops No. 5 Princeton
March 27, 2004 | Men's Lacrosse
March 27, 2004
Final Stats
Geoff Keough won 15 of 22 face-offs and Kevin Dougherty scored a career-high four goals to lead third-ranked Syracuse to a 14-12 win over fifth-ranked Princeton Saturday afternoon in men's lacrosse.
A Class of 1952 Stadium-record crowd of 6,186 saw the Orangemen rally from a five-goal first-half deficit to win. The three largest crowds in Class of 1952 Stadium history are all Princeton-Syracuse games.
"They're a great team," said Princeton's Ryan Boyle, who had three goals and three assists. "They play with a lot of energy, and they build off the momentum. It lets them get on their big runs. They take advantage when they have the chance."
Princeton (3-2) led 7-2 midway through the second quarter before Syracuse (4-1) made its comeback. The Orangemen scored the final two goals of the second quarter and then outscored Princeton 10-5 in the second half. The key to the game was Syracuse's ability to win face-offs. One week after winning four of 24 face-offs in a 17-5 loss to No. 1 Johns Hopkins, Syracuse won 21 of 29 against Princeton, including 11 of 12 during one stretch.
"It seemed like they always had the ball," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "You have to give them a lot of credit. They did what they had to do when they got down. I think if we play with the kind of energy we played with the rest of the way, we'll be just fine."
Princeton led 11-10 before Syracuse scored four goals, two by Sean Lindsey, in a 4:27 span of the fourth quarter. Boyle answered with his third goal with 3:06 to go to make it 14-12, and Princeton gained an extra-man opportunity on the same play, but Syracuse won the next face-off and killed off the entire penalty. Princeton had two possessions in the final 1:30 but could not get a shot off on Jay Pfeifer, who made 11 saves in the game for the Orangemen.
Michael Powell had two goals and four assists for Syracuse, leaving both him and Boyle with exactly 129 career assists. Boyle is four behind Jon Hess for second all-time at Princeton; Powell is tied with his brother Casey for fifth at Syracuse. Both Powell and Boyle were first-team All-Americas a year ago.
Boyle also moved within two points of Dave Heubeck for fifth-place all-time in points scored at Princeton.
Jason Doneger had three goals for the Tigers.
Princeton was outshot 43-34, and Syracuse had a 38-28 edge in ground balls.
Princeton opens its Ivy League season next Saturday at home against Yale, while Syracuse hosts Hobart Wednesday night.