Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Princeton Hosts Canisius To Open Men's Lacrosse Season
February 22, 2008 | Men's Lacrosse
Snow? Snow what. It's lacrosse season at Princeton University.
The Princeton men's lacrosse team opens the 2008 season Saturday afternoon against Canisius (1, WPRB FM 103.3) at the Class of the 1952 Stadium, one day after a snowstorm dumped the first significant accumulation of the winter on the Central New Jersey area.
Despite the wintery feel, it is most assuredly the beginning of a spring that will heat up quicky, as the Tigers will face defending NCAA champion Johns Hopkins and Virginia in its next two games. Still, there is no looking past Canisius, a team that returns eight starters from a year ago, including 2007 MAAC Rookie of the Year Tim Rowley, and added a solid freshman class that includes Canadian U-19 player Adam Jones.
As for the Tigers, graduation claimed four-year starters such as first-team All-America defenseman Zachary Jungers and high-scoring Peter Trombino and Scott Sowanick. Still, Princeton returns most of the members of a defense that led Division I with 6.2 goals-against per game a year ago, including preseason first-team All-Americas Alex Hewit in goal and longstick Dan Cocoziello.
Princeton vs. Canisius
The site Class of 1952 Stadium ? Princeton, N.J.
The date Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 ? 1 p.m.
Radio WPRB FM 103.3; www.goprincetontigers.com
The rankings Princeton: No. 5 (USILA)/No. 8 (Inside Lacrosse); Canisius: unranked
The records Princeton: 0-0; Canisius: 0-0
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (24th season overall, 252-84); Canisius: Randy Mearns (10th season overall, 48-71)
The series Princeton leads 2-0
Last meeting Princeton defeated Canisius 18-7 ? Feb. 24, 2007
Nice to see you again ? Princeton opens its season against Canisius for the third straight season.
More nice to see you again ? Princeton has won the last two meetings against Canisius by a combined 34-13.
D plus ? Princeton led Division I in scoring defense in 2007, allowed 6.2 goals per game.
More D ? Only one team (Cornell with 10) reached double figures in goals against Princeton last year.
The All-American boys ? Princeton features five players who earned preseason All-America honors from Inside Lacrosse, led by first-team picks Dan Cocoziello (D) and Alex Hewit (G). Mark Kovler (M) was a second-team selection, while Chris Peyser (D) was named to the third-team and Charlie Kolkin (LSM) was honorable mention.
Top cats ? Alex Hewit (G) and Dan Cocoziello (D) were named the No. 1 players in the county at their positions this preseason by Inside Lacrosse.
Pomp and circumstance ? Princeton lost three starters to graduation from last year, and all three were All-Americas. Peter Trombino (A), Scott Sowanick (M) and Zachary Jungers (D) were all four-year starters for the Tigers, as was fellow graduate Whitney Hayes (M).
On your Mark ? Mark Kovler is Princeton's active career leader in goals (39) and points (52) heading into the 2008 season.
More Mark ? Mark Kovler scored 23 goals a year ago, marking him the third Princeton middie this decade to reach the 20-goal mark, along with Drew Casino (24 in 2004) and Brad Dumont (22 in 2002).
You get the point ? Princeton's top three active career scorers are Mark Kovler (52), Tommy Davis (49) and Alex Haynie (43), who combined have 144 points. Peter Trombino graduated last year after scoring 152 points in his career.
Here come the McBrides ? Freshman cousins Jack McBride and Chris McBride combined for 118 goals last year at the Delbarton School.
With zero percent of precincts reporting ... ? Princeton was ranked fifth in the USILA preseason coaches' poll and eighth in the Inside Lacrosse preseason media poll.
Strength of schedule ? Princeton plays teams ranked first (Johns Hopkins), third (Virginia), sixth (Cornell), ninth (Syracuse), 11th (Albany) and 17th (Hofstra) in the USILA preseason coaches' poll.
In the nation's service ? Junior Brendan Reilly was named a Woodrow Wilson School “Scholar In The Nation's Service,” a distinction awarded to six Princeton University juinors each year.
Tommy boy ? Tommy Davis had a career-high five assists against Canisius a year ago after having one his entire freshman year. Davis had a team-high 17 assists a year ago.
More Tommy ? Tommy Davis has scored at least one point in 20 straight games entering the 2008 season.
Engelke-ys to the game ? Rob Engleke had three goals in the season opener against Canisius a year ago, had one more goal in the next 12 regular season game and then had two goals in the NCAA tournament opening round loss to Georgetown.
For starters ? Dan Cocoziello is the only current Tiger to have started every game of his career.
More starters ? Princeton has five players returning who started all 14 games a year ago: G Alex Hewit, D Dan Cocoziello, D Chris Peyser, M Mark Kovler, A Alex Haynie. Tommy Davis (A) started all 13 games in which he played; Davis missed the Rutgers game with an injury.
Still more starters ? The probable starting lineup and the number of career starts prior to 2008 for each member:
Attack - Alex Haynie (29 games started), Tommy Davis (17), Scott MacKenzie (0)
Midfield - Mark Kovler (27), Bob Schneider (10), Rich Sgalardi (2)
Defense - Dan Cocoziello (42), Chris Peyser (15), Jeremy Hirsch (0)
Goalie - Alex Hewit (33)
Old friends ? Princeton seniors Dan Cocoziello and Alex Hewit have been playing together since the seventh-grade team at the Delbarton School.
What might have been ? Princeton lost four games by a combined seven goals in 2007. Princeton's losses included a 7-6 double-overtime loss to eventual-national-champion Johns Hopkins, a 7-6 loss to Virginia on a goal with 25 seconds to play and a 9-8 overtime loss to Georgetown in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
Face-it ? Alex Berg won 54.4% of his face-offs a year ago for the highest single-season total by a Princeton face-off man since Matt Bailer won 59.0% in the 2000 season.
Oh, brother ? Princeton has two sets of brothers on its 2008 team (Jimmy and Tommy Davis; Brendan and Connor Reilly). In addition, Princeton has three other players (Sam Hayes, Alex Hewit, Pete Striebel) who had an older brother (or brothers) play for the men's lacrosse team and two others (Zack Goldberg, Peter Gudmundsen, Rob Owen) with an older sibling who was or is a Princeton varsity athlete.
Stop it ? Alex Hewit's 6.40 career goals-against average is the second-best in Division I history, behind Matt Russell (Navy '06), who had a 6.28.
Aw, shoot ? Alex Haynie has a .403 career shooting percentage.
Coming attractions ? Princeton plays in the Konica-Minolta Face-Off Classic next Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Princeton faces defending NCAA champion Johns Hopkins at 2:30, after Syracuse meets Virginia. Both games will be televised on ESPNU.
2 Princeton players on the Tewaaraton preseason watch list (Dan Cocoziello, Alex Hewit)
3 goals scored by a Princeton freshman against Canisius each of the last two years (Tommy Davis in 2006, Rob Engelke a year ago)
4 Princeton defensive players who have earned preseason All-America recognition from Inside Lacrosse (Dan Cocoziello, Alex Hewit, Charlie Kolkin, Chris Peyser)
6 Princeton juniors honored as a Woodrow Wilson School “Scholar in the Nation's Service,” including men's lacrosse player Brendan Reilly
6.20 goals per game allowed by Princeton a year ago; Princeton led Division I
6.40 Alex Hewit's career goals-against average, the second-best in Division I history
10 the highest goal total allowed by Princeton in 2007 (by
Cornell)
10.5 average margin of victory for Princeton over Canisius the last two years
54.4 percentage of face-offs won by Alex Berg a year ago; it was the highest single-season total by a Princeton player in seven seasons
11,000 presale of tickets for the Konica-Minolta Face-Off Classic, which pairs Syracuse against Virginia and Princeton against Johns Hopkins next Saturday (March 1) at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore
20,180 attendance at last year's inaugural Face-Off Classic
PROBABLE LINEUP
Attack
12 Alex Haynie Sr. 10-8-18
7 Tommy Davis Jr. 18-17-35
2 Scott MacKenzie So. 0-2-2
First Midfield
17 Mark Kovler Jr. 23-5-28
18 Rich Sgalardi Jr. 2-4-6
28 Bob Schneider Sr. 6-1-7
Second Midfield
8 Mike Gaudio Sr. 3-2-5
9 Pete Striebel Sr. 1-1-2
19 Josh Lesko Jr. 6-3-9
Longstick Midfielder
43 Charlie Kolkin Jr. 1-0-1
Shortstick Defensive Midfielder
33 Zack Goldberg Sr. 2-3-5
29 Brendan Reilly Jr. 1-1-2
Defense
1 Dan Cocoziello Sr. 0-1-1
37 Jeremy Hirsch So. 0-0-0
38 Chris Peyser Jr. 0-0-0
Goal
15 Alex Hewit Sr. 6.33 GAA
.595 S%