Princeton University Athletics
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Dartmouth
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No. 7 Princeton Wins Shootout Against Dartmouth, 16-11
April 29, 2006 | Men's Lacrosse
April 29, 2006
Final Stats
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HANOVER, N.H. - Princeton finally found a men's lacrosse team with an offense it couldn't stop. Fortunately for the Tigers, they didn't have to.
Princeton defeated Dartmouth 16-11 Saturday afternoon in front of 1,229 at Scully-Fahey Field in a game that featured a combined 81 shots. The 11 goals by Dartmouth marked the first time that Princeton had allowed double figures this season.
Princeton improved to 9-4, 4-1 in the Ivy League. Dartmouth fell to 6-7, 2-3.
"They are an outstanding offensive team," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "They gave us all kinds of problems. We couldn't stop them."
The day began with no fewer than five of the seven Ivy League teams still alive for at least a share of the league title. Cornell's 10-6 win over Brown eliminated Penn, Havard and Dartmouth, clinched at least a share of the league championship for the Big Red and gave the Big Red the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Princeton finishes its regular season next Saturday in Providence against Brown; a win would give the Tigers a share of the title with the Big Red.
Dartmouth entered the game as the 11th highest scoring team in the country, but Princeton had already played five of the top nine teams and had held them all well below their averages. Princeton had played Virginia, Hofstra and Cornell, who rank 1-2-3, and held them to a combined 20 goals, less than half of their combined average.
Princeton goalie Alex Hewit, despite allowing 10 of the goals in 59 minutes, was again spectacular for the Tigers, making 16 saves to match his total of a year ago against the Big Green. Hewit made four of his saves in the first five minutes, all of which came from point-blank range. He also had several more saves from in close later in the game to keep the Big Green from rallying.
Princeton was outshot 14-6 in the first quarter, but the Tigers still led 4-2 after goals by Peter Trombino, Trip Cowin, Dan Cocoziello and Josh Lesko. Dartmouth erased that deficit with the first two goals of the second quarter, but the Tigers then scored five times over the final 6:03 of the half to take a 9-6 lead at intermission. The key stretch came after Dartmouth had cut the lead to 8-6 and had Brad Heritage take a shot with 15 seconds left in the half, but Hewit made the save, cleared to Josh Lesko and watched as Lesko fed Alex Haynie for a goal with 4.6 seconds to play to make it a three-ggoal lead.
While the teams went end-to-end in the second half and had all kinds of scoring chances, Dartmouth would not get closer than two the rest of the way.
Scott Sowanick and Peter Trombino each had three goals and two assists for Princeton, while Alex Haynie had career highs with three goals and four points.
"The middies did a great job of getting us the ball in transition," said Haynie. "We had the easy job. They were doing a great job setting us up. It was a big win for us, and now we have another big game next week."
Jamie Coffin and Nick Bonacci had three goals eaach for the Big Green.
Dartmouth outshot Princeton 41-40. Dartmouth won 16 of 30 face-offs, but the Tigers won 13 of 23 over the final three quarters after the Big Green won six of seven in the first quarter.