Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Hosts Syracuse In One Of College Lacrosse's Greatest Rivalries
March 23, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
March 23, 2005
Princeton and Syracuse. For the last decade and a half, it's as good as it's gotten in Division I men's lacrosse. Together they've combined to win 14 of the last 17 NCAA championships, and their coaches rank 1-2 all-time in NCAA tournament winning percentage and 1-2 among active Division I coaches in career winning percentage.
They renew their rivalry for the 12th time since 1999 this Saturday (1, Moneytalk AM 1350, CSTV), when the Orange visit Class of 1952 Stadium.
Princeton vs. Syracuse
The site Class of 1952 Stadium • Princeton, N.J.
The date Saturday, March 26, 2005 • 1:00 p.m.
Radio/TV Moneytalk AM 1350/www.goprincetontigers.com/CSTV
The records Princeton: 0-3; Syracuse: 1-3
USILA rankings Princeton: 15th; Syracuse: eighth
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (19th season overall, 226-71); Syracuse: John Desko (seventh season, 81-22)
The series Syracuse leads 13-7
Last meeting Syracuse defeated Princeton 14-12 • March 20, 2004
Role reversal - Princeton and Syracuse are a combined 1-6. Princeton and Syracuse were a combined 38-11 coming into their last five regular season meetings, dating to 2000.
More reversal - Princeton and Syracuse are a combined 1-6 (.143). The two combined to go 126-31 (.803) in the last five seasons (with nine of those losses against each other) and 247-58 (.810) in the last 10 seasons (with 14 of those losses against each other).
Nice to see you again - Princeton and Syracuse meet for the 12th time since 1999.
More again - Last year was the first time since 1998 that Princeton and Syracuse did not play in both the regular season and the NCAA tournament.
Oranges and oranges - Princeton (six) and Syracuse (eight) have combined to win 14 of the last 17 NCAA championships.
March madness - Princeton and Syracuse meet in Princeton for the second straight season because the Carrier Dome is hosting the Syracuse Regional of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Pomp and circumstance - Princeton's Ryan Boyle and Syracuse's Michael Powell graduated last spring after combining for 220 goals, 319 assists, 539 points and six first-team All-America honors.
More pomp - Princeton's Ryan Boyle and Syracuse's Michael Powell each led his team in scoring each of the last four years.
The Boyle/Powell factor? - Princeton is averaging 7.0 goals per game this year after averaging 10.3 last year; Syracuse is averaging 9.5 goals per game this year after averaging 14.4 last year.
Coach speak - Syracuse's John Desko (81-22, .786) and Princeton's Bill Tierney (226-71, .761) rank 1-2 among active NCAA Division I coaches in career winning percentage.
More coach - John Desko (17-3, .850) and Bill Tierney (28-9, .797) rank 1-2 all-time among Division I coaches in NCAA tournament winning percentage.
Aw, shoot - Jason Doneger had one shot (for one goal) in Princeton's game against Hofstra last week.
More shoot - Jason Doneger is averaging 4.0 shots per game this year after averaging 6.6 shots per game last year.
Young guns - Princeton's freshmen and sophomores have combined for 17 goals and 10 assists; Princeton's juniors and seniors have combined for four goals and one assist.
Depth charge - Princeton used six attackmen, seven longsticks, 12 shortstick midfielders, three face-off men and two goalies in its game against Hofstra.
Great Scott - Scott Sowanick is averaging 2.3 goals per game (seven in three games) after averaging 0.87 goals per game (13 in 15 games) a year ago.
More Scott - Scott Sowanick has seven goals on 15 shots, a .467 shooting percentage. Sowanick had 13 goals on 43 shots (.302) a year ago.
On the attack - Peter Trombino has at least one point in every game of his career.
Open Mike - Mike Gaudio had his first career two-goal game in last Saturday's game at Hofstra.
Big Ben-nett - John Bennett leads Princeton with 12 ground balls; the next two top players combined have 13.
Goal oriented - Jason Doneger has at least one goal in 33 of his last 34 games.
More goal - Jason Doneger has 89 career goals; every other current Princeton player combined has 82 career goals.
No offense - Princeton has not reached double figures in scoring in five straight games dating to last year; it is Princeton's longest such streak since an 11-game streak stretching between 1987 and 1988.
History lesson - Princeton has lost four straight games dating to last year for its longest losing streak since 1989.
Quarterly report - Princeton has been outscored 7-3 and outshot 26-9 in the first quarters of its three games.
Extra mania - Princeton's opponents are a combined 1 for 8 on extra-man opportunities.
Law school - Dave Law has started 18 straight games in goal for Princeton.
For starters - Five of Princeton's 10 starters (Scott Sowanick, Peter Trombino, Dan Cocoziello, Pete Striebel, Bob Schneider) have started every game of their careers.
Playing from behind - Princeton has not had the lead at the end of any quarter this season.
A league of their own - Princeton has won 10 straight Ivy League championships. No team in any sport in league history has ever won 11 straight championships.
May madness - Princeton defeated Syracuse in overtime in the 1992 and 2001 NCAA championship games.
More madness - Princeton and Syracuse have played in four NCAA championship games, including three straight from 2000-02; each team has won twice.
Still more madness - Princeton and Syracuse have combined to make 16 NCAA championship game appearances in the last 13 years.
Princeton Lacrosse '05 ... By The Numbers
0 wins by Princeton, marking Princeton's first 0-3 start since 1999; Princeton has not been 0-4 to start a season since 1986
1 shots by Jason Doneger last week against Hofstra; he averaged 6.6 shots per game a year ago
2 goals last week by Mike Gaudio, who had his first career two-goal game
4 goals scored by Princeton juniors and seniors; freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 17
5 points scored by Princeton juniors and seniors; freshmen and sophomores have combined to score 27
6 first-team All-America selections Ryan Boyle and Michael Powell combined for before graduating last spring
12 quarters played by Princeton this season; the Tigers have not had the lead at the end of any of them
14 NCAA championships won by Princeton and Syracuse combined in the last 17 years
15 Princeton's USILA rank
16.5 goals per game average of Princeton and Syracuse combined this season; the two combined to average 24.7 a year ago
18 consecutive games started in goal by Dave Law
82 career goals scored by every Princeton player except for Jason Doneger combined
89 career goals scored by Jason Doneger
539 career points scored by Ryan Boyle and Michael Powell combined
6186 attendance at last year's Princeton-Syracuse game at Classof 1952 Stadium, then the largest crowd in stadium history
6325 attendance at the Johns Hopkins-Princeton game at Class of 1952 Stadium on March 5
PROBABLE LINEUP Attack 20 Peter Trombino So. 3-5-8 4 Jason Doneger Sr. 3-0-3 5 Scott Sowanick So. 7-1-8
First Midfield 3 Whitney Hayes So. 2-3-5 9 Pete Striebel Fr. 0-0-0 28 Bob Schneider Fr. 2-0-2
Second Midfield 8 Mike Gaudio So. 3-0-3 6 Michael Biles So. 0-0-0 16 Jim O'Brien Jr. 1-1-2
Longstick Midfielder 36 Zachary Jungers So. 0-0-0 37 John Bennett So. 0-0-0
Defense 42 Oliver Barry Sr. 0-0-0 13 Tim Sullivan Sr. 0-0-0 1 Dan Cocoziello Fr. 0-0-0
Goal 2 Dave Law Jr. 11.48 GAA .405 S%