Princeton University
Johns Hopkins
Players Mentioned
Bennett, Trombino Help Princeton Snap Hopkins' Record Home Winning Streak
March 04, 2006 | Men's Lacrosse
March 4, 2006
Final Stats
Baltimore, Md. - Peter Trombino, John Bennett and the Princeton men's lacrosse team made sure a bunch of 40-somethings in Central New York are still part of the NCAA record book.
Trombino scored back-to-back goals in the third quarter and added a key assist in the fourth and Bennett led a tremendous defensive stand to lead Princeton to a 6-4 win over defending NCAA champion Johns Hopkins in front of 5,636 at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon.
Princeton's win ended the Blue Jays' 37-game home winning streak, which was tied with Syracuse from 1982-1987 as the longest home winning streak in Division I men's lacrosse history. Hopkins and Syracuse will now share that record.
Princeton also ended Hopkins' 17-game overall winning streak, which included a perfect 16-0 run last year that ended with an NCAA title.
"Getting out of Homewood with a win is not easy," said Princeton head coach Bill Tierney, who is now 12-10 all-time against Johns Hopkins. "Their record wasn't something we were thinking about. Playing Hopkins is tough enough without any other things to worry about."
Princeton trailed once, at 3-2 early in the second half, before Trombino turned the game around with a pair of high outside shots past Blue Jay goalie Jesse Schwartzman in 1:40 span near the end of the third quarter. Trip Cowin then scored unassisted to make it 5-3 Princeton at quarter's end, and Josh Lesko scored off a perfect give-and-go from Trombino to complete the 4-0 run and make it 6-3 Tigers 1:22 into the fourth.
"Jesse was standing on his head in first half, and I was wondering at halftime if we were ever going to solve it," said Tierney. "You're not the MVP of the NCAA championship game [which Schwartzman was last year] without being pretty good. We couldn't do anything other than continue what we were doing. Peter hit a couple of strong shots, and that may have loosened things up just enough." Mark Kovler scored for Princeton 47 seconds into the game, but Schwartzman would not let in another goal for 20 minutes before Mike Gaudio scored on a shot in front. The goal improved Gaudio's streak to 13 consecutive games wtih at least one goal, but Princeton's junior midfielder left the game later with a knee injury.
Princeton outshot Hopkins 20-10 in the first half, but Schwartzman made nine first-half saves to keep it a 2-2 game at intermission.
"We were trying to shoot low, but he was stopping everything," said Trombino, who has at least one point in every game of his career. "We figured we'd try out luck shooting high. We got just enough past him."
Greg Peyser shaved one goal off the Princeton lead with 3:27 to go, and Hopkins' best chance after that came on a one-minute man advantage with 1:24 to go. Princeton's defense sgtopped that challenge, and the last-ditch Blue Jay run ended with a turnover and a game-ending run down the middle by Bennett.
Before that, Bennett had been tremendous all game, forcing seven Hopkins turnovers by himself and almost single-handedly preventing the Blue Jays from getting settled possessions in the first half.
"When you play Johns Hopkins, you know everyone you're playing against can score," Bennett said. "You can't let up an inch. It forces you to play better."
Zachary Jungers held Kevin Huntley without a goal, and Bennett was helped by Dan Cocoziello and Ryan Schoenig defensively as Princeton kept Hopkins to 21 shots in the first three quarters. Alex Hewit made six of his seven saves in the second half, while Schwartzman finished with 14.
While Hopkins was having a perfect 2005, Princeton was going 5-7 and missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 16 years. The Tigers are now 2-0 on the young season, with their next game next Sunday, March 12, at home against Virgnia, another 2005 Final Four team.
Princeton (2-0) 1-1-3-1 -- 6
Johns Hopkins (1-1) 1-1-1-1 -- 4
Scoring Princeton Peter Trombino 2-1, Mark Kovler 1-1, Josh Lesko 1-0, Mike Gaudio 1-0, Trip Cowin 1-0, Whitney Hayes 0-1.
Johns Hopkins Greg Peyser 1-1, Jake Byrne 1-1, Drew Dabrowski 1-1, Paul Rabil 1-0, Kevin Huntley 0-1.
Shots
Princeton 38, Johns Hopkins 32
Face-offs Princeton 5x13, Johns Hopkins 8x13
Saves Princeton Alex Hewit 7, Johns Hopkins Jesse Schwartzman 14
Attendance 5,636.