Princeton University Athletics
East Side Story
March 28, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
March 28, 2005
He's a city kid, first and foremost. Grew up on the upper East Side in the 90s. When you needed to get somewhere, you didn't pile into the minivan. Not in the city. The Lexington Ave. train stops on 96th street, or you could take the bus. Or even, dare we say it, walk?
He's got an edge to him. Comes with the territory. The call it "street smarts," and it's a quality you develop when you're always rushing, always trying to beat the crowds.
The lacrosse world is filled with players from suburbia. Even the players from Baltimore are really from sections of the city with more grass than pavement.
Oliver Barry? He shares his hometown with eight million others.
"I've always had a lot of freedom," says Barry, a Princeton men's lacrosse tri-captain along with Jason Doneger and Matthew Prager. "Ever since fourth grade I walked to school myself. I took the buses and subways. It was just second nature. It's just how it is when you live in New York City. You don't drive anywhere. There are some dirt fields in Central Park, and that's about it."
So how did an urban boy grow up to become an All-America defenseman at Princeton? New York City kids play basketball, maybe baseball. They don't usually play lacrosse.
"I played in the Empire State Games for the New York City team," Barry says. "We never even won a game. We had to compete against the other five regions of the state."
Barry grew up playing ice hockey and baseball, and he stumbled upon lacrosse in the fifth grade when he was asked to fill in for a bunch of missing sixth graders on a private school team. He never played baseball again.
When it came time for high school, Barry left New York City for the athletic and academic opportunities of the Hotchkiss School in Northern Connecticut. To say it was culture shock would be an understatment. "I couldn't believe how small the town was," he says. "There was one street, and nothing much going on on it. The freedoms I had in New York, walking anywhere I needed to go, they were limited there. It was a tough adjustment."
It went beyond the physical. He was, after all, a 14-year-old at a boarding school two hours from home.
"It was tough at the beginning to be away," says Barry. "Fortunately, I knew some people from old school who had made the same decision I made. That made it easier. And I made some lifelong friends there, and they helped me get through everything."
Barry eventually flourished at the prep school, where he was a four-year honor student in the classroom and an New England selection on the lacrosse field. He began playing attack on the jayvee team as a freshman, but he moved to defense as a way of getting on the field. It was the start of a three-year varsity career, and when it was over, Barry was a reasonably highly recruited prospect.
"In my eyes, there was no equal to the opportunity at Princeton, lacrosse wise and academically," Barry says. "I came to Princeton convinced that I would be happy here even if I never played a minute."
It didn't take long until that possibility was eliminated.
"I remember after my freshman fall," Barry says. "Coach [Bill] Tierney had meetings with all the players, and at mine, he told me that I was working hard and doing well and that if I kept it up, I could be an All-America. I'm overly competitive, and I saw an opportunity for myself. I was going to work as hard as I could and force him to play me."
Barry played shortstick defense as a freshman, when Princeton reached the NCAA championship game before falling to Syracuse. As a sophomore, he again played mostly shortstick, though he also played longstick, especially on man-down situations. He settled into a starting close defense role a year ago, and he has started every game the last two years.
"For him to be a captain and All-America defenseman, that's all his heart," Tierney says. "He's worked very hard. He's a great player, but this is one guy I can't take any credit for. Shawn [Nadelen, former Tiger assistant coach, now at Towson] saw something special in him and did a lot with him."
Barry was a first-team All-Ivy selection and honorable mention All-America a year ago, and he was a preseason second-team All-America this year. The Tigers are off to a slow start at 0-3, but there is still plenty of time to turn the season around, especially with the coming Ivy League season.
"The start has been tough, especially the loss to Hofstra," Barry says. "We have all the talent and right pieces. Personally, I feel so responsible for the way the defense plays. We need to start believing in each other."
This is a young Princeton team, one that has three senior starters in Barry, Doneger and fellow defenseman Tim Sullivan. The team is dominated by freshmen and sophomores who play key roles.
"When I was a freshman, there was a group of older players with a lot of leadership skills," Barry says. "One of the things I've been thinking about the last couple of weeks is how to teach the younger guys. I remember how much I learned from Scott Farrell and Kyle Baugher, listening to what they told me. I owe so much to Brian Lieberman; he's the one who taught me the system. And watching Damien Davis play was special. I learned so much from watching him."
Barry, a history major, will head to medical school eventually. Before that, there is a fellowship to Africa with a public health organization, working with AIDS patients while at the same time working to develop community soccer programs.
"It's been great for me here," Barry said. "I'm not sure I ever thought I'd be an All-Ivy player or an All-America player, but I worked hard to be able to play. I'd trade it all, though, for another Ivy League championship and a shot at a national championship."