Princeton University Athletics
Princeton Faces Rutgers In Men's Lacrosse Rivalry Dating To 1888
April 07, 2005 | Men's Lacrosse
April 7, 2005
The Princeton men's lacrosse team has little margin for error in the Ivy League race with four big games still on the horizon. For this week, though, that race is not the focus, as the Tigers try to build on their first win of the season when they travel to Rutgers Saturday afternoon (3 p.m., WHWH AM 1350, CN8 TV).
Princeton and Rutgers compete for the Meistrell Cup, which Princeton has won 15 straight years. The rivalry between the schools dates back much further than that, as the teams first met in the 1888 season.
Princeton vs. Rutgers
The site Yurcak Field • Piscataway, N.J.
The date Saturday, April 9, 2005 • 3:00 p.m.
Radio/TV Moneytalk AM 1350/www.goprincetontigers.com/CN8
The records Princeton: 1-5 (1-1 Ivy League); Rutgers: 3-5 (1-2 ECAC)
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (19th season overall, 227-73); Rutgers: Jim Stagnitta (16th season, 159-70)
The series Princeton leads 51-28-3
Last year Princeton defeated Rutgers 12-4 • May 15, 2004 (NCAA 1st round); Princeton defeated Rutgers 9-7 • April 10, 2004
History lesson - Princeton and Rutgers first played men's lacrosse on April 25, 1888, in New Brunswick and May 2, 1888, in Princeton. Both games were won by Princeton.
More history - Princeton and Rutgers meet for the 83rd time; the only team Princeton has played more is Yale, whom the Tigers have played 86 times.
Last history - Princeton and Rutgers have met every year since 1926 except for the World War II years of 1944 and 1945.
Hots for Tots - The winner of the Princeton-Rutgers game is awarded the Harland (Tots) Meistrell Cup, named for the man credited with reviving the sport of lacrosse at Rutgers in 1919 and at Princeton in 1920.
You guys again? - Princeton played Rutgers played twice last year, both at Class of 1952 Stadium in Princeton. The Tigers won during the regular season 9-7 and in the opening round of the NCAA tournament 12-4. More you guys - Including this week's games, three of Princeton's last 16 games will have been against Rutgers.
Streaking - Princeton has defeated Rutgers 16 straight times.
Boyle-ing point - The graduated Ryan Boyle had five goals and six assists in two games against Rutgers a year ago.
Young guns - Princeton has 43 goals, of which 38 have been scored by freshmen or sophomores. Princeton has 26 assists, of which 21 have come from freshmen or sophomores.
Fresh faces - Princeton used eight freshmen in its 6-5 win over Penn Tuesday: G Alex Hewit, D Dan Cocoziello, FO Alex Berg, M Zach Goldberg, A Alex Haynie, A Trip Cowin, M Pete Striebel and M Bob Schneider.
Playing from ahead - Princeton had the lead for a combined 33:36 in its first five games, all losses. Princeton had the lead for 39:00 in its win Tuesday over Penn.
Coming from behind - Princeton has played 24 quarters through six games and has had the lead at the end of two of them.
Close shaves - Princeton has lost five games by a combined 11 goals.
More shaves - Princeton has not had more than a two-goal lead at any time of any game this season.
Net results - Alex Hewit made his collegiate debut in goal for Princeton against Penn Tuesday. Hewit made nine saves, including three in the two overtimes, in Princeton's 6-5 win.
More net - Princeton has used three starting goalies this season: Dave Law, Matthew Larkin, Alex Hewit.
On the bright side - Should Princeton win its remaining four Ivy League games, the Tigers would be assured of at least a share of the championship; should Princeton win its final four Ivy games AND have Yale lose at least one of its remaining three Ivy League games, then Princeton would be assured of the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Buzzer beaters - Princeton has allowed six goals this season in the final 10 seconds of a quarter.
Polling place - Princeton is unranked in this week's USILA poll. Princeton has been ranked in every USILA poll since first moving into the rankings on March 26, 1990.
Deja vu - Jason Doneger has scored two career overtime goals (Tuesday vs. Penn, 2003 vs. Loyola), both of which came during midweek road games and gave Princeton 6-5 wins.
More vu - Jason Doneger's goal in the second overtime against Penn Tuesday afternoon was scored on the same end of Franklin Field as Andy Moe's goal in the second overtime of the 1992 NCAA championship game, which gave Princeton the first of its six NCAA championships.
Open Mike - Mike Gaudio has seven goals and one assist in his last four games; he had two career points prior to that.
Working overtime - Jason Doneger (goals against Penn and Loyola) and Peter Trombino (goal against Maryland in NCAA quarterfinals a yer ago, assist against Penn Tuesday) have two career overtime points; no other Princeton player has any career overtime points.
21 for 20 - Peter Trombino has at least one point in all 21 games of his career.
A league of their own - Princeton has won or shared the Ivy League championship each of the last 10 years.
More league - Princeton is 79-7 in Ivy League games since the start of the 1991 season.
Win some, lose some, win some - Mike DeSantis won 9 of 13 face-offs against Penn Tuesday. He won 1 for 10 in his game before that (at Yale) and won 8 for 10 in his game before that (Syracuse).
An almost perfect 300 - Princeton's 6-5 win over Penn Tuesday came in the 300th game for Bill Tierney as a college head coach. Tierney, who coached 41 games at Rochester Institute of Technology before coaching his last 259 games at Princeton, has a career record of 227-73.
Three for all - Scott Sownick, Whitney Hayes and Peter Trombino are the only three Princeton players with at least one point in every game this season.
Tripp-le play - Tripp Shriner has two goals and two assists, all in extra man situations.
Aw, shoot - Scott Sowanick has 11 goals of 25 shots for a team-best .440 shooting percentage.
Princeton Lacrosse '05 ... By The Numbers
1 career starts by freshman goalie Alex Hewit, who made nine saves, three of which came in overtime, in Princeton's 6-5 win over Penn Tuesday afternoon
2 career overtime goals by Jason Doneger, who scored Tuesday in the second overtime to give Princeton a 6-5 win over Penn
3 players with at least one point in every game this season: Whitney Hayes, Scott Sowanick, Peter Trombino
4 remaining Ivy League games for Princeton; should the Tigers win them all, they'd be assured of no worse than a tie for their 11th straight Ivy title
6 games played for Princeton, with three different goalies (Dave Law, Matthew Larkin, Alex Hewit) having started at least one
7 goals in his last four games by Mike Gaudio; he had two career goals prior to that
8 freshmen used by Princeton in the win over Penn Tuesday
11 points by the graduated Ryan Boyle in two games against Rutgers last year
16 consecutive Princeton wins over Rutgers
21 games with at least one point by Peter Trombino out of 21 career games
39 minutes that Princeton led Penn Tuesday afternoon; Princeton had led for a combined 33:36 in its first five games
79 Ivy League wins by Princeton, with seven losses, since the start of the 1991 season
220:41 elapsed time between Jason Doneger goals, from the third quarter of the Hofstra game until the overtime against Penn
300 career games coached by Bill Tierney as of the win over Penn; Tierney has 227 career wins
1888 the first year Princeton and Rutgers played lacrosse
PROBABLE LINEUP Attack 20 Peter Trombino So. 9-6-15 4 Jason Doneger Sr. 4-0-4 5 Scott Sowanick So. 11-6-17
First Midfield 16 Jim O'Brien Jr. 1-3-4 8 Mike Gaudio So. 8-1-9 3 Whitney Hayes So. 4-5-9
Second Midfield 9 Pete Striebel Fr. 1-1-2 28 Bob Schneider Fr. 2-0-2 6 Michael Biles So. 0-0-0
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 15 Alex Hewit Fr. 4.41 GAA