Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Opens Ivy Men's Lacrosse Season At Yale
March 31, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
March 31, 2005
In some ways, the NCAA tournament has come a month early for the Princeton men's lacrosse team. The Tigers, 0-4 after losses to the Nos. 1, 3, 8 and 11 teams in this week's USILA poll, open their Ivy League season at Yale (Saturday, 1 p.m., WHWH AM 1350, www.goprincetontigers.com) and begin their quest for the league's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
Princeton has won 10 straight Ivy League championships. In addition to chasing the automatic bid, Princeton is also chasing a piece of history: No team in any league sport has ever won 11 straight Ivy titles.
Princeton vs. Yale
The site Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium • New Haven, Conn.
The date Saturday, April 2, 2005 • 1:00 p.m.
Radio Moneytalk AM 1350/www.goprincetontigers.com
The records Princeton: 0-4 (0-0 Ivy League); Yale: 4-2 (1-1 Ivy League)
USILA rankings Princeton: 16th; Yale: unranked
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (19th season overall, 226-72); Yale: Andy Shay (second season, 10-10)
The series Princeton leads 64-19-2
Last meeting Princeton defeated Yale 12-9 • April 3, 2004
A league of their own - Princeton has won or shared the Ivy League championship each of the last 10 years.
More league - Princeton is 78-6 in Ivy League games since the start of the 1991 season.
The whammy - Princeton has won or shared the Ivy League championship each of the last 10 years; no Ivy team in any sport has ever won 11 league titles in a row.
Role reversal - Princeton is 0-4 for the first time since 1986.
More reversal - Princeton has lost five straight games, dating to last season's NCAA semifinal. It is Princeton's longest losing streak since 1989.
Strength of schedule - Princeton is 0-4. Its four losses, by the combined total of 10 goals, are to the teams ranked first (Johns Hopkins), third (Virginia), eighth (Syracus) and 11th (Hofstra) in this week's USILA poll. History lesson - Princeton has defeated Yale in 13 of the last 14 meetings between the teams. The only Yale win in that stretch came in 2002, when Yale defeated Princeton 15-13 at Class of 1952 Stadium to end Princeton's 37-game Ivy winning streak two games short of the all-time league record.
Come from behind - Princeton has had the lead for 33:38 of its 240 minutes played.
More come from behind - Princeton has not had the lead at the end of any quarter this season.
Quarterly report - Princeton has been shut out in the first quarter of three of its four games.
Young guns - Of Princeton's 29 goals this season, 25 have been scored by freshmen or sophomores.
More young - Of Princeton's 43 points this season 36 have been scored by freshmen or sophomores.
No place like road - Princeton has won 27 straight Ivy League road games.
Welcome Matt - Matthew Larkin, a senior, made his first career start last weekend with 13 saves and 10 goals-against in the loss to Syracuse.
Peter the Great - Peter Trombino has scored at least one point in all 19 games of his career. The only Princeton players ever to score at least one point in every game for four years are Kevin Lowe '94 and Ryan Boyle '04.
More Peter - Peter Trombino has five goals and two assists in his last two games.
Last Peter - Peter Trombino scored two goals in 45 seconds and three goals in 3:52 against Syracuse.
Open Mike - Mike Gaudio has four goals on eight shots.
More Mike - Mike Gaudio has had back-to-back multiple-point games after not have any career multiple-point games prior to that. You never forget your first - Zach Goldberg and Tripp Shriner scored their first career goals in the Syracuse game. Michael Wenzel had his first career assist.
Great Scott - Scott Sowanick has eight goals in four games this season after having 13 goals in 15 games a year ago.
Goal oriented - Jason Doneger has 89 career goals; every other current Princeton player combined has 90 career goals.
Big Ben-nett - John Bennett leads Princeton with 15 ground balls, as many as the next two highest players combined.
Face it - After winning 25 of its first 62 face-offs this season, Princeton won 16 of 21 against Syracuse last week.
More face it - Mike DeSantis won 8 of 10 face-offs against Syracuse; Ryan Schoenig won 7 of 10 face-offs against Syracuse.
Fresh faces - Princeton has three freshmen starters (Dan Cocoziello, Pete Striebel, Bob Schneider).
Aw, shoot - Scott Sowanick, Peter Trombino, Jason Doneger and Bob Schneider have combined for 75 of Princeton's 109 shots.
No offense - Princeton has not reached double figures in scoring in six straight games dating to last year; it is Princeton's longest such streak since an 11-game streak stretching between 1987 and 1988.
Extra mania - Princeton's opponents are a combined 1 for 10 on extra-man opportunities.
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.
PROBABLE LINEUP Attack 20 Peter Trombino So. 6-5-11 4 Jason Doneger Sr. 3-0-3 5 Scott Sowanick So. 8-2-10
First Midfield 16 Jim O'Brien Jr. 1-1-2 9 Pete Striebel Fr. 0-0-0 28 Bob Schneider Fr. 2-0-2
Second Midfield 8 Mike Gaudio So. 4-1-5 6 Michael Biles So. 0-0-0 3 Whitney Hayes So. 3-3-6
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 7 Matthew Larkin Sr. 7.29 GAA