Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Navy NCAA semifinals
Navy Holds Off Princeton In NCAA Men's Lacrosse Semifinal
May 29, 2004 | Men's Lacrosse
May 29, 2004
Final Stats
Baltimore - A season that started with a team with four players who had ever started a game ended with an improbable run to the Final Four. A return to the championship game will have to wait another year.
Matt Russell's save on a Peter Trombino shot with seven seconds remaining sealed Navy's 8-7 win over Princeton in the NCAA semifinals Saturday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.
"I couldn't be prouder of a group of young men than I am of this team," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney.
The loss ended a brilliant Tiger run to a 10th straight Ivy League championship and a spot in the Final Four for the 10th time in 13 years. Princeton, completely rebuilt after being decimated by graduation a year ago, finished the season at 11-4. Princeton was trying to repeat its miracle finish of a week earlier, when the Tigers rallied from two goals down to tie Maryland with 12 seconds left and then won the game in overtime.
"One week you get the one-goal win and feel great," Tierney said. "The next week, you lose by one and the other team feels great. I told the team that I didn't want to see anyone hanging their head."
Navy, having a dream season of its own, advanced to Monday's championship game, where the Mids will play the winner of Saturday's other semifinal between Syracuse and Johns Hopkins.
Princeton trailed 7-6 midway through the fourth quarter when the first of the two key plays of the game occurred. Jason Doneger's crease shot beat Russell but hit the pipe, bouncing back towards midfield. Navy longstick Bucky Morris picked up the loose ball, ran it down the field and fed it to Ian Dingman, who then made one more pass to Jon Birsner on the crease. Birsner then scored to make it 8-6 Navy instead of 7-7, which would have been the score had Doneger scored.
"You love the pipe when it helps you and you hate it when it doesn't," said Tierney. "I'm a big believer that teams win for a reason. It was Navy's time, not our's."
Princeton answered with 4:59 to play when Peter Trombino scored off a feed from Ryan Boyle to make it 8-7. The Tigers were then given a gift last chance to send the game to overtime when Navy's Graham Gill came in front of the net after Princeton goalie Dave Law had vacated the crease to try to force a turnover. With no one between Gill and the goal, Gill instead hit the pipe, and the ball went to Princeton with 33 seconds left.
The Tigers called two timeouts, the second after clearing the ball, and the Tigers had their last chance with 21 seconds to go. Boyle brought the ball in front and tried to feed Doneger in the crease, but the ball rolled to Trombino, who had scored the overtime goal against Maryland last week. Trombino took a strong shot, but Russell was able to make the save and hurl the ball the length of the field as time expired.
Boyle finished his career with one goal and three assists against Navy, making his final career numbers 232 points and 163 assists, both second all-time at Princeton. He also finished his senio season with 23 goals and 44 assists, the most assists in Division I.
"Losing by one goal is tough," said Boyle. "You replay the game over and over in your mind, thinking about what play could have been different. But it was a great year for us. This team has a great future."
Mac Bryson, who entered the game with six goals on the season, had three goals for the Tigers, while Drew Casino had two. Trombino finished his freshman year with 24 goals, the second-highest total by a freshman in school history, and with at least one in every game.
Navy dominated possession, winning 15 of 19 face-offs and having a 43-27 edge in ground balls.