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Princeton, Virginia Renew Men's Lacrosse Rivalry
March 06, 2008 | Men's Lacrosse
It's been 52 weeks since the Virginia men's lacrosse team clipped Princeton 7-6 in Charlottesville on a late goal, 104 weeks since Virginia defeated Princeton 7-6 despite an epic day from Tiger goalie Alex Hewit and one week since the teams left M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in very different moods.
Princeton and Virginia renew one of the great rivalries in the modern era of college lacrosse when they meet Saturday afternoon at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium (noon). The game will be the first regular season college lacrosse game ever televised on ESPN, and the feed will also be available on ESPNU. As with all Princeton games, it can be heard on WPRB FM 103.3 and at goprincetontigers.com.
Virginia has defeated Princeton 7-6 each of the last two years, including last year when Ben Rubeor scored with 25.4 seconds remaining. The 2006 meeting was also held in Princeton Stadium, and Hewit made 20 saves in that game as the Tigers gave the Cavs what would prove to be their toughest test during their undefeated NCAA championship run.
Both teams competed in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic a week ago, where UVa knocked off Syracuse 14-13 in overtime in the opener before Princeton fell 14-9 to Johns Hopkins in the second game.
Virginia comes into the game averaging 15.7 goals per game through five games, all wins. Princeton has allowed more than 15 goals exactly once in its last 250 games, dating to the start of the 1991 season.
Princeton vs. Virginia
The site Powers Field at Princeton Stadium ? Princeton, N.J.
The date Saturday, March 8, 2008 ? noon
Radio/TV WPRB FM 103.3; www.goprincetontigers.com/ESPN and ESPNU
The rankings Princeton: No. 11 (USILA)/No. 11 (Inside Lacrosse); Virginia: No. 3 (USILA)/No. 3 (Inside Lacrosse)
The records Princeton: 1-1, Virginia: 5-0
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (24th season overall, 253-85); Virginia: Dom Starsia (26th season overall, 277-104)
The series Virginia leads 12-10
Last meeting Virginia defeated Princeton 7-6 ? March 10, 2007
The spirit of 7-6 ? Virginia has defeated Princeton 7-6 each of the last two seasons.
More 7-6 ? Virginia defeated Princeton 7-6 a year ago on Ben Rubeor's goal with 25.4 seconds to go.
Save it ? Alex Hewit has allowed 14 goals (7.00 per game) and made 30 saves (.714 save percentage) against UVa the last two seasons combined.
Don't touch that dial ? The Princeton-Virginia game will be televised on ESPN and ESPNU; it will be the first regular-season college men's lacrosse game ever televised on ESPN.
Yes, Virginia ? Princeton head coach Bill Tierney is 6-10 against Virginia in the regular season and 3-0 against Virginia in the NCAA tournament.
More Virginia ? Princeton defeated Virginia 9-8 in overtime in the 1994 NCAA final (on a goal by Kevin Lowe), 13-12 in overtime in the 1996 NCAA final (on a goal by Jess Hubbard) and 12-11 in the 2000 NCAA semifinals (on a goal with two minutes left by Brendan Tierney).
Goal oriented ? Since the start of the 2006 season, Virginia has averaged 13.6 goals per game against the rest of Division I lacrosse and 7.0 goals per game against Princeton.
More goal ? Virginia averages 15.7 goals per game; Princeton has allowed more than 15 goals once in its last 250 games dating to the beginning of the 1991 season (17 against Cornell in 2005).
Last goal ? Johns Hopkins scored 14 goals last week against Princeton; the last time Princeton allowed double figures in goals in back-to-back games was against Quinnipiac and Hopkins in the first two weeks of the 2004 season.
Nice to see you again ? Princeton and Virginia competed at the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic last weekend at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Virginia defeated Syracuse 14-13 in overtime in the first game; Princeton fell to Johns Hopkins 14-9 in the second.
Crowd control ? The Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic drew 19,165 at M&T Bank Stadium last weekend; the first Face-Off Classic a year ago drew 20,160.
May madness ? Last year marked the first time since 1991 that neither Princeton nor Virginia advanced to the NCAA Final Four.
Half and half ? Princeton was outscored 10-1 in the first half by Johns Hopkins. Princeton outscored Hopkins 8-4 in the second half.
More half and half ? Through two games, Princeton has been outscored 14-7 in the first half and has outscored its opponents 15-6 in the second half.
On the other hand ? Princeton averaged 39.0 shots per game a year ago; Princeton is averaging 35 shots per game through two games this year.
Four score ? Princeton senior midfielder Bob Schneider has scored 21 career goals; four of his 21 goals have come against Virginia.
Polling place ? Princeton fell twice as far in the USILA coaches poll (four places, going from fifth to ninth) for beating Canisius by seven goals than it did for losing to Hopkins by five goals (two places, ninth to 11th).
Powers to the people ? Powers Field at Princeton Stadium has hosted nine men's lacrosse games; Princeton has played in three of these. Princeton defeated Hobart in 1999 and Syracuse a year ago and lost ot UVa in 2006. The other six games were in the 1999, 2005 and 2007 NCAA quarterfinals, to which Princeton did not advance.
More Powers ? Princeton has appeared in the NCAA quarterfinals 15 times in the last 18 years; the only times Princeton did not advance to at least the quarters were the three years that Powers Field at Princeton Stadium was the predetermined site.
Face it ? Alex Berg has won 23 of 41 face-offs (56.1%) through two games; Berg won 54.4% of his face-offs a year ago.
Chase it ? Princeton volunteer assistant coach Bryce Chase missed last week's game against Johns Hopkins with the flu, ending a streak of 525 consecutive games coached at Princeton, dating to the 1971 season.
Double play ? Only once in Princeton's last 49 games have both teams reached double figures in goals (a 16-11 win over Dartmouth in 2006).
More double ? Princeton is 62-5 this decade when scoring at least 10 goals.
D plus ? Princeton led Division I in scoring defense in 2007, allowing 6.2 goals per game.
More D ? The 14 goals scored by Johns Hopkins last week were the most allowed by Princeton since a 17-4 loss to Cornell in 2005 and the 16th time in the 297 games that BIll Tierney has been head coach at Princeton that the Tigers have given up at least 14 goals in a game.
Still more D ? Princeton is 1-15 in games in which it has allowed 14 or more goals since Bill Tierney became head coach. The only win was a 16-14 win over North Carolina in the 1992 NCAA semifinals.
Last D ? Princeton only allowed one team a year ago to reach double figures (Cornell with 10). Princeton allowed 10 first-half goals to Hopkins a week ago.
On your Mark ? Mark Kovler scored 23 goals a year ago, making 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). Kovler scored twice against Canisius.
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.
For starters ? Dan Cocoziello is the only current Tiger to have started every game of his career.
Princeton Lacrosse '08 ... By The Numbers
0 losses all-time at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium for Virginia; the Cavs won at the stadium in the 1999 NCAA quarterfinals and during the 2006 regular season
1 margin of victory for UVa over Princeton each of the last two seasons, both by 7-6 scores
2 Princeton wins over Virginia in NCAA championship games, both of which came in overtime (1994 on Kevin Lowe's goal, 1996 on Jesse Hubbard's goal)
4 goals against Virginia for Bob Schneider, who has 21 career goals
7 goals allowed by Princeton against Virginia each of the last two seasons; Virginia has averaged 13.6 goals per game in its other 36 games since the start of the 2006 season
8 goals scored by Johns Hopkins before Princeton scored in last weekend's game; the last time Princeton fell behind by as much as 8-0 was its 1996 game at Virginia, when the Cavs scored the first 10 goals in a 12-9 win
10 Johns Hopkins goals in the first half last week against Princeton; the most goals Princeton allowed in an entire game all of last season was 10, against Cornell
11 Princeton players with at least one goal through two games; Virginia has 21 players with at least one goal
15.7 goals per game for Virginia; Princeton has allowed more than 15 goals once in its last 250 games (17 by Cornell in 2005)
22 consecutive games with at least one point for Tommy Davis
25.4 seconds remaining in last year's game between the teams when Ben Rubeor scored the game-winner
30 saves against Virginia the last two seasons combined for Princeton goalie Alex Hewit; with 14 goals-against, Hewit has a .714 save percentage against UVa
56.1 percentage of face-offs won by Alex Berg through two games, including a 13 for 22 performance against Johns Hopkins
58 games since the Tigers have allowed double figures in goals in back-to-back games, dating to the first two games of the 2004 season (vs. Quinnipiac and Hopkins)
525 consecutive Princeton games coached by Princeton volunteer assistant coach Bryce Chase before his streak ended when he missed last week's game against Johns Hopkins with the flu
PROBABLE LINEUP
Attack
14 Jack McBride Fr. 2-2-4
7 Tommy Davis Jr. 6-2-8
2 Scott MacKenzie So. 1-2-3
First Midfield
17 Mark Kovler Jr. 3-2-5
18 Rich Sgalardi Jr. 1-0-1 28 Bob Schneider Sr. 2-0-2
Second Midfield
8 Mike Gaudio Sr. 0-0-0
9 Pete Striebel Sr. 0-2-2
19 Josh Lesko Jr. 0-0-0
Face-Off
13 Alex Berg Sr. 23x41
Longstick Midfielder
43 Charlie Kolkin Jr. 0-0-0
Shortstick Defensive Midfielder
33 Zack Goldberg Sr. 0-2-2
29 Brendan Reilly Jr. 1-0-1
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. 10.00 GAA
.592 S%