Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
No. 5 Princeton Faces No. 1 Cornell As Ivy Unbeatens Meet In Ithaca
April 18, 2007 | Men's Lacrosse
The Princeton men's lacrosse team has allowed five first quarter goals in 10 games. Canisius had one. Virginia had two. Penn had two. As for Penn, those two first quarter goals were followed by a 37:40 scoreless stretch that wasn't even the longest scoreless stretch of the week that the Princeton defense put up. That would be the 37:57 span that the Tigers wiped out Harvard to start last Saturday's game.
Cornell, on the other hand, has been overwhelming teams. The Big Red has scored 32 first quarter goals and 72 first-half goals, a number that equals 17 more goals than Princeton has allowed all year in first halves, second halves and overtimes.
Princeton ranks first nationally in scoring defense, allowing 5.5 goals per game. Cornell ranks first nationally in scoring offense, scoring 14.9 goals per game.
What gives? We'll find out Saturday afternoon (3, CSTV, WPRB FM 103.3), as fifth-ranked Princeton heads to Ithaca to take top-ranked Cornell in a game that will go a long way in deciding the Ivy League championship. Princeton comes into the game 8-2 overall, 3-0 in the Ivy League and riding a seven-game winning streak. Cornell has been nothing short of perfect this year, rolling to a 10-0 overall record and 4-0 Ivy mark.
Cornell has defeated Princeton three straight times, including a 4-3 classic a year ago in Princeton that saw Alex Hewit make 15 saves for the Tigers. In the last meeting between the schools in Ithaca, Cornell sprinted away early to what became a 17-4 Big Red win.
One of these teams is assured of at least a share of the league title, and a Cornell or Princeton Ivy champion is nothing new: Either Princeton or Cornell (or both) has won the Ivy title 41 times in the 51 years of formal league play.
Princeton vs. Cornell
The site Schoellkopf Field ? Ithaca, N.Y.
The date Saturday, April 21, 2007 ? 3:00 p.m.
TV CSTV
Radio WPRB FM 103.3; www.goprincetontigers.com
The rankings Princeton: No. 5 (Nike Inside Lacrosse)/No. 5 (USILA); Cornell: No. 1 (Nike Inside Lacrosse)/No. 1 (USILA)
The records Princeton: 8-2 (3-0 Ivy League); Cornell: 10-0 (4-0 Ivy League)
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (23rd season overall, 250-82); Cornell: Jeff Tambroni (seventh season overall, 68-25)
The series Princeton leads 35-29-2
Last year Cornell defeated Princeton 4-3 ? April 22, 2006
What gives? ? Princeton ranks first in Division I in scoring defense (5.5 goals per game); Cornell ranks first in Division I in scoring offense (14.9 goals per game).
On the other hand ? Princeton ranks 18th in Division I in scoring offense (10.3 goals per game); Cornell ranks fifth in Division I in scoring defense (6.5 goals per game).
For starters ? Princeton has allowed five first quarter goals in 10 games; Cornell has scored 32 first quarter goals in 10 games.
Goal oriented ? Cornell has scored 17 more goals in the first half alone (72) than Princeton has allowed all year (55).
Net results ? Opposing goalies have a .454 save percentage against Cornell; Princeton's Alex Hewit has a .645 save percentage.
In case you forgot ? Cornell defeated Princeton 4-3 in Princeton last year. Alex Hewit made 15 saves for the Tigers.
More forgot ? Princeton did not score in the first half against Cornell a year ago; the Big Red led 2-0 at intermission.
Still more forgot ? Cornell defeated Princeton 17-4 in 2005 in the last meeting between the teams in Ithaca.
A league of their own ? Princeton and Cornell have combined to win the Ivy League (either outright or shared) 41 times in the 51 years the league has had a champion. One of the teams is guaranteed to win at least a share of this year's championship.
More league ? Because the league considers teams that tie for the title to be co-champions, Princeton and Cornell have combined to win seven Ivy titles in the last four years.
Streaking ? Cornell has defeated Princeton each of the last three years, by one goal each time in Princeton and by 13 goals in Ithaca.
Seeing Red ? Princeton is 17-1 against the rest of the league and 0-3 against Cornell since the start of the 2004 season.
Technically speaking ? A Cornell win over Princeton would clinch at least a share of the Ivy League title and would give the Big Red the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. A Princeton win over Cornell coupled with a Princeton win over either Dartmouth or Brown or a Cornell loss to Brown would give Princeton the league's automatic bid.
Aw, shoot ? Cornell has a team shooting percentage of .327; Princeton's opponents have a .173 shooting percentage.
More shoot ? Cornell has scored 46 more goals than Princeton despite taking only 68 more shots than Princeton.
Last shoot - Cornell has outshot Princeton by a combined 94-34 the last two years.
D plus ? Princeton is allowing 5.5 goals per game, which would be the best single-season average in Bill Tierney's 20 years as head coach. The best single-season to date for a
Tierney-coached Princeton team is 5.80, by the 2001 NCAA championship team.
Surging ? Princeton has won seven straight games.
Eight is enough ? No team has scored more than eight goals against Princeton this season.
Seeing 20-20-20-20 ? Peter Trombino is one of five players in school history with four seasons of at least 20 goals. The other four: Jesse Hubbard, Chris Massey, B.J. Prager, Sean Hartofilis.
Something in common ? Princeton and Cornell have four common opponents, against whom both are 4-0 (Yale, Penn, Harvard, Syracuse). Cornell outscored the four by a combined 70-34; Princeton outscored the four by a combined 36-19.
Scoreless-ness ? Princeton held Penn to a scoreless stretch of 37:40; Princeton held Harvard to a scoreless stretch of 37:57.
On the Mark ? Mark Kovler has 17 goals, the most by a Princeton sophomore middie since Josh Sims had 32 in 1998.
Hot Coco ? Dan Cocoziello held Penn's Craig Andrzejewski and Harvard's Brian Mahler, both of whom entered the game as his team's leading goal-scorer, to no goals and three shots.
It had to be Hewit ? Alex Hewit has a .682 save percentage in Princeton's four games that have been decided by one or two goals.
Welcome to the Jungers ? Zachary Jungers is one of 20 finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award for lacrosse, which will be awarded for excellence in athletics, academics, service and leadership.
Streaking ? Tommy Davis has at least one point in 16 straight games.
I'm honored ? Alex Hewit became the third Princeton goalie to play for Bill Tierney to win the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Award as the top goalie in Division I when he won the award last season, joining Scott Bacigalupo and Trevor Tierney. Hewit became the second player to play for Bill Tierney to be a first-team All-America without being first-team All-Ivy League (Bacigalupo in 1994).
The All-American boys ? Princeton has six players who have earned All-America honors in their career: Alex Hewit (2006 first-team), Dan Cocoziello (2006 second-team), Zachary Jungers (2006 thid-team), Peter Trombino (2006 honorable mention), Mark Kovler (2006 honorable mention) and Scott Sowanick (2005 honorable mention).
More All-Americas ? Princeton's defense consists of two preseason first-team All-Americas (G Alex Hewit, D Dan Cocoziello) and one preseason second-team All-America (D Zachary Jungers).
Bling, bling ? Princeton's four coaches have combined for 21 NCAA championship rings. Bill Tierney has six as Princeton head coach and two as an assistant coach at Johns Hopkins; David Metzbower and Bryce Chase have six each at Princeton; Greg Raymond has one as a player from Johns Hopkins.
Princeton Lacrosse '07 ... By The Numbers
0 goals by Princeton in the first half of last year's game against Cornell, won by the Big Red 4-3
.173 shooting percentage by Princeton's opponents
.327 shooting percentage by Cornell
1 Princeton's rank in Division I in scoring defense (5.5 goals per game) and Cornell's rank in Division I in scoring offense (14.9 goals per game)
2 Princeton players among the final 17 nominees for the Tewaaraton Trophy (Alex Hewit, Zachary Jungers)
3 consecutive wins by Cornell against Princeton
5 players in school history with four seasons of at least 20 goals (Peter Trombino, Jesse Hubbard, Chris Massey, Sean Hartofilis, B.J. Prager)
5.50 average goals per game allowed by Princeton, which would be the lowest figure for a season in Bill Tierney's 20 years as Tiger head coach
7 consecutive wins for Princeton after a 1-2 start
13 margin of victory by Cornell in the last game between the teams in Ithaca (17-4 in 2005)
15 saves made by Alex Hewit in last year's Princeton-Cornell game
16 consecutive games with at least one point by Tommy Davis
17 goals by Mark Kovler, who has the most by a Princeton sophomore middie since Josh Sims in 1998
37:40 scoreless stretch by Penn against Princeton
37:57 scoreless stretch by Harvard against Princeton
41 times, in 51 seasons of formal Ivy League play, that either Cornell or Princeton (or both) has been the champion
53 games played by Princeton since the start of the 2004 season; Scott Sowanick and Peter Trombino have started all 53
96 Ivy League wins by Bill Tierney as Princeton head coach, second-best all-time in league history behind Richie Moran of Cornell (123)
What Can You Say About ...
Nikhil Ashra #23
? has a .833 save percentage and 3.69 goals-against average in 32:29 as back-up goalie
? made seven saves while allowing two goals in 25:50 against Bellarmine
? made three saves without allowing a goal against Canisius
John Bennett #37
? in fourth season of splitting longstick midfield position
Alex Berg #13
? has won 59 of 112 face-offs
? won 7 of 9 against Bellarmine
? won 6 of 10 face-offs against Rutgers
? won 8 of 10 against Canisius
? won 6 of 12 against Virginia
? won 11 of 21 against Syracuse
? missed the Hofstra game due to injury suffered against RU
Michael Biles #6
? had a goal against Johns Hopkins and Canisius
? missed almost all of last year with injury
? played in 24 games first two years
Dan Cocoziello #1
? preseason first-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
? second-team All-America a year ago
? named to Tewaaraton Trophy preseason watch list
? unanimous first-team All-Ivy League defenseman in 2006
? held Penn's leading scorer, Craig Andrzejewski, without a goal and with only one shot
? held Harvard's Brian Mahler, who entered the game tied for team lead in goals, to no goals and two shots
? had three goals last season, one off school single-season record for a longstick, set by John Harrington in 1998
? became first defenseman to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year when he won the award in 2005
? has started every game of his career
? had an assist against Rutgers
Trip Cowin #4
? had an assist against Canisius
? came back from off-season knee surgery
Tommy Davis #7
? leads team with 12 assists
? second on team with 26 points
? has a 16-game streak with at least one point
? scored two goals and had one assist against Syracuse
? scored three goals (on four shots) against Penn
? had two goals against Harvard
? had a goal and assist against Yale; was only Princeton player with more than one point in that game
? scored two goals against Hofstra, including game-winner with eight seconds remaining
? had two goals and five assists against Canisius
? had five assists against Canisius after having one all last year
? scored two goals on two shots against Canisius
? had a goal and assist against Hopkins
? had an assist against UVa
? had an eight-game goal-scoring streak snapped against UVa
? had a goal and three assists against Bellarmine
? missed last six games of 2006 regular season with shoulder injury suffered against Syracuse; returned with five goals in two NCAA tournament games
? missed game against Rutgers due to injury
Mike DeSantis
? missed last four games due to injury
? has won 28 of 52 face-offs
? had a goal against Hofstra
? had first career goal against Rutgers
? goal came 15 seconds after an RU goal had made it a two-goal game in the fourth quarter
? also had an assist against Rutgers for first career two-point game
? has four career points
? won 7 of 11 face-offs against Hofstra
? won 6 of 8 face-offs against Hopkins
? won 7 of 10 face-offs against Canisius
? won exactly 50% of his draws as both a sophomore and junior
Rob Engelke #22
? has played in every game as fourth attackman
? had first career assist in win over Hofstra
? had a goal and two assists against Bellarmine
? scored three goals against Canisius
? named Ivy League Rookie of the Week after that game
? became second Princeton player in last 12 years to score three goals in first game of freshman year (Tommy Davis in 2006)
? scored three goals on three shots against Canisius
? scored more than 100 points as a junior and senior at Garden City High School
Mike Gaudio #8
? tore his ACL in second quarter of last year's game against Hopkins and missed remainder of season
? scored first goal since ACL injury with goal against Yale
? also had a goal against Harvard
? returned from injury to play against Canisius
? had 13-game goal scoring streak snapped against Canisius
? had assists against Virginia and Penn
? honorable mention All-Ivy selection in 2005
? scored 16 goals in 2005, most by a sophomore midfielder at Princeton since Josh Sims in 1998
Zack Goldberg #33
? top shortstick defensive midfielder
? had a goal against Yale
? had a goal and assist against Rutgers
? had an assist against Canisius and Harvard
? has seven career goals
Whitney Hayes #3
? has started 30 career games
? had a goal against Penn
? had a goal against Canisius
Alex Haynie #12
? scored three goals against Canisius to tie career high
? had a goal and assist against Penn
? had a goal against Virginia
? had two assists against UVa and against Syracuse
? had an assist against Hofstra
? had two goals against Bellarmine
? active with Athletes In Action
Alex Hewit #15
? 2006 first-team All-America
? 2007 preseason first-team All-America
? named to Tewaaraton Trophy preseason watch list
? 2006 first-team All-America despite not being first-team All-Ivy League (Cornell's Matt McMonagle)
? career goals-against average of 6.17 is second all-time behind Navy's Matt Russell (5.86 from 2003-06)
? second in Division I in goals-against (6.50) and fifth in save percentage (.627)
? has .682 save percentage in four games decided by two goals or less (Hopkins, Virginia, Hofstra, Yale)
? named Ivy League Player of the Week after 14-save, three-goals-against, .824 save percentage performance against Yale
? had 13 saves while allowing three goals against Harvard
? made 12 saves against Syracuse
? made 11 saves while allowing four goals against Hofstra (.733 save percentage)
? made 10 saves against Virginia
? has made 30 saves and allowed 14 goals in last two games against UVa
? is the only goalie to hold Virginia under 10 goals during each of the last two seasons
? made 10 saves against Johns Hopkins
? made 10 saves against Rutgers
? had an assist against Bellarmine for first career point
? had a career-low .300 save percentage (seven goals-against, three saves) against Canisius
? has a career .640 save percentage
Zachary Jungers #36
? third-team All-America a year ago
? preseason second-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
? named to Tewaaraton Trophy preseason watch list
? honorable mention All-Ivy League
? started every game on close defense last two years after being top longstick midfielder first two years
? held Hofstra's Tommy Dooley without a goal or assist; Dooley was Hofstra's leading scorer and the 2006 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year after scoring 38 goals
? held Colin Checcio, Rutgers' leading scorer, to one goal, which came with three minutes remaining
? one of 20 finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award for lacrosse, which will be awarded for excellence in athletics, academics, service and leadership
? had first career point with an assist against Bellarmine
? competed at tryouts for U.S. national team in 2005
Charlie Kolkin #43
? No. 1 longstick midfielder
? scored first goal of career in win over Rutgers
? has played in every game of career
Mark Kovler #17
? second-team All-Ivy League in 2006
? preseason honorable mention All-America
? 2006 honorable mention All-America
? was sixth all-time among freshman goal scorers (third among midfielders) at Princeton with 18
? second on team with 17 goals
? has more goals than any sophomore midfielder at Princeton since Josh Sims had 32 in 1998
? had a career-high four goals and a career-high five points against Syracuse
? had three goals against Harvard
? scored three goals against Rutgers and Bellarmine
? has three career three-goal games
? also had an assist against Bellarmine to tie career high of four points
? had a goal against Hofstra
? scored tying goal in fourth quarter against Johns Hopkins
? had two goals and an assist against Canisius
Josh Lesko #19
? preseason honorable mention All-America by Inside Lacrosse
? had one goal in each of first four games
? had a goal and assist against UVa
? had a goal against Hopkins, Penn and Canisius
? had a streak of nine straight games with at least one goal snapped against Hofstra; had exactly one goal in each of the nine games during streak
? had an assist against Hofstra and Bellarmine
? had a goal against Syracuse
Scott MacKenzie #2
? had first career point with an assist against Canisius
Chris Peyser #38
? starting on close defense
? played in every game last year as fourth defender
? shut out Hofstra's Ryan Miller in 5-4 Princeton win
? started one game a year ago
Brendan Reilly #29
? one of top shortstick defensive midfielders
? had first career assist in win over Syracuse
? played in a backup role last year
Bob Schneider #28
? had two goals against Rutgers
? had one goal against Hofstra, UVa, Bellarmine and Canisius
? missed last three games due to injury
? has played attack and midfield in career
Greg Seaman #42
? scored first career goal in win over Canisius
? had a goal against Rutgers
? won 2 of 5 face-offs against Canisius
? son of Towson coach Tony Seaman
Tripp Shriner #10
? made first career start against Rutgers
? had a goal and assist against Rutgers
? had an assist against Penn
Scott Sowanick #5
? named to Tewaaraton Trophy preseason watch list
? preseason second-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
? honorable mention All-Ivy League in 2006
? had three goals against Penn
? had a goal and two assists against Harvard
? had a goal and assist against Hopkins
? had a goal and three assists against Rutgers
? assisted on all three of Mark Kovler's goals against Rutgers
? had an assist against Canisius and Syracuse
? has started every game of career
? has 113 career points
Derek Sudan #46
? veteran shortstick defensive midfielder
? scored first career goal in win over Yale
? had first career point with an assist against Rutgers
? has played in every game last two years
Peter Trombino #20
? named to Tewaaraton Trophy preseason watch list
? preseason second-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
? one of two active players in Division I lacrosse who has scored an overtime goal in an NCAA tournament game, which he did against Maryland in 2004 quarterfinals (UMass's Jim Connolly is the other)
? only player in school history with at least 20 goals and at least 10 assists as a freshman, sophomore and junior; needs four assists to do so again as senior
? one of five players in school history with four seasons of at least 20 goals (Jesse Hubbard, Chris Massey, B.J. Prager, Sean Hartofilis)
? leads team in goals (22) and points (29)
? had career-highs in goals (five) and points (seven) against Syracuse
? had two goals and two assists against Penn
? assisted on Tommy Davis' game-winning goal against Hofstra with eight seconds remaining
? had three goals against Virginia
? had two goals and an assist against Rutgers
? had a goal against Hopkins
? had a goal against Yale
? had three goals against Canisius
? had four goals against Bellarmine, all in the first half
? has 90 career goals and 138 career points