Princeton University
Rutgers
Players Mentioned
Kovler Rockets Princeton Past Rutgers With Huge Second Half
March 25, 2009 | Men's Lacrosse
The Rutgers men's lacrosse team had all the momentum. Then a little "3" appeared for the quarter on the Yurcak Field scoreboard, and that was it for the Scarlet Knights.
As has been the case all season, the Princeton men's lacrosse team exploded in the third quarter, breaking open a close game to defeat its Central Jersey neighbor 13-6 in front of 1,061 chilled fans in Piscataway. Princeton, ranked fifth by the coaches and the media, improved to 6-1 heading into Saturday's Ivy League opener at Yale. Rutgers is now 2-6.
The win came in the 87th meeting between the Tigers and Knights, and Princeton now leads the series 55-29-3. As has been the case since 1958, the winner took the Tots Meistrell Cup home, something Princeton has done 19 times in the last 20 years.
The score was 5-4 Princeton at the half, but the home team definitely had the momentum. Rutgers was controlling the tempo and had possession of the ball for probably better than 80% of the first 30 minutes. Princeton, averaging 48.2 shots per game, had just 12 by intermission.
On top of that, Rutgers had rebounded after it looked like it would be all Princeton when Rich Sgalardi scored twice in the first three minutes. Instead, Kory Kelly scored with just 10 seconds to play in the second quarter, and RU bounced off the field at intermission looking very much like a team that was going to make it a rough night for the Tigers.
Then the third quarter started. By the time it ended, Mark Kovler had begun to sizzle, Princeton had a four-goal lead and the Tigers' season-long pattern had continued.
Kovler, who had been shut out in the first quarter, scored four times after intermission, including 52 seconds after play resumed to start the onslaught. Princeton has now outscored its seven opponents by a combined 31-7 in the third quarter, and it was 8-2 Princeton after halftime against Rutgers.
For Kovler, he scored on all four of his second-half shots. He now has back-to-back four-goal games after also scoring four times against Albany last Friday, and it's the fourth time he has reached his career-high of four goals.
Sgalardi had a career-high three goals, and Tommy Davis had a four-point night with two goals and two assists. Jack McBride had a goal and assist.
Kelly scored three times for RU.
Tyler Fiorito made nine saves for the Tigers.
Princeton took a season-low 23 shots, fewer than half its average, and still scored 13 goals, by far its highest shooting percentage of the year.
Harland (Tots) Meistrell is a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He is revived the sport of lacrosse at Rutgers in 1920 and Princeton in 1921 after both schools had dropped the sport decades earlier.