Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Monday Men's Lax: Wiedmaier Honored By Ivy; Polls; World Team Tryouts
March 02, 2009 | Men's Lacrosse
Steven Boyle dominated Princeton with five goals in the first two Face-Off Classics, both of which his Johns Hopkins Blue Jays won. Chad Wiedmaier helped make sure there would be no third time for either.
Wiedmaier held Boyle to one goal, which came when Princeton was already ahead by eight goals, and matched the Blue Jays' All-America attackman's point total with an assist of his own in Princeton's 14-8 win Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
For his efforts, Wiedmaier has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Wiedmaier, playing in his second college game, was part of a defense that held Hopkins to one goal in the first 28 minutes. He was also part of the play that ended any chance JHU had of making a comeback, and in the process became part of a history-making moment in Princeton lacrosse.
Princeton led 9-1 in the second quarter before Hopkins scored the final two of the half to make it a 9-3 game. If the Blue Jays were going to make a charge, it would have to build off of that momentum, and the opportunity presented itself with a face-off win to start the third quarter.
Tyler Fiorito, Princeton's freshman goalie, made a save on that possession and then tried to clear by running the ball upfield. When he was trapped outside the box, he flipped it back to Wiedmaier, who was near the crease. Wiedmaier then ran the ball into the Hopkins box and appeared to be winding for a shot, but he instead fed freshman longstick midfielder John Cunningham, who ripped it into the net.
The goal did more than just build the lead back to seven. It also marked the first time in Bill Tierney's 22 seasons as Princeton head coach that the Tigers had a longstick score a goal that was assisted by another longstick.
The win over Hopkins vaulted Princeton to fifth in both the USILA coaches' poll and the Inside Lacrosse media poll, up from ninth (coaches) and 11th (media) a week ago. Princeton has four games remaining against fellow Top 10 teams, including this Friday night at UMBC (sixth USILA/eighth IL) at 8 on ESPNU.
Also Monday, the USILA announced the 84 players who have been invited to try out for the U.S. team for the 2010 World Championships, to be held in Manchester, England. The group includes four Princeton alums: Ryan Boyle '04, Christian Cook '98, Zach Jungers '07 and Matt Striebel '01. Boyle, Cook and Striebel were members of the 2006 team that featured as runner-up to host Canada, and Boyle and Striebel were on the winning U.S. team in 2002 in Australia.
Tryouts will be held in June.