Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
No. 1 Princeton Heads To Ithaca To Take On No. 4/5 Cornell
April 16, 2009 | Men's Lacrosse
The Princeton men's lacrosse team is ranked No. 1 in both the USILA coaches' poll and the Inside Lacrosse media poll this week, marking the first time since 2001 that the Tigers have been in the top spot.
Getting there? A 10-1 record, including six straight wins.
Staying there? That's another story.
To be No. 1 next week, the Tigers have to get past Cornell, a team that is 9-2 and ranked fifth in one poll and fourth in the other. The Big Red is the No. 1 scoring offense team in the country at nearly 14 goals per game and the winner of 17 straight home Ivy League games. Cornell's last home league loss was to Princeton in 2003, when Ryan Boyle had a nine-point afternoon and Jason Doneger scored seven goals.
Cornell has outscored Princeton by a total of 7-10 in the two meetings in Ithaca since.
* * *
Cornell is 4-0 in the Ivy League, while Princeton is 3-0; they are the only Ivy unbeatens.
Princeton and Cornell clearly have been the dominant teams in Ivy League lacrosse history, as each team has won 23 Ivy League championships. Brown is in third place with six.
Princeton and Cornell first met in lacrosse in 1922. Since then, the series has been one of streaks:
? Princeton won the first four and was 21-1-2 in the first 24 meetings, including a 17-game winning streak at one point
? Cornell won 23 of the next 25 meetings, including 22 straight from 1968-1989
? Princeton won 13 of the next 14 between 1990 and 2003
? Cornell won the next four before Princeton's 11-7 win at Princeton Stadium a year ago
* * *
A look at the common opponents for Princeton and Cornell reveals ... well, very little.
Cornell and Princeton have already beaten Harvard, Yale and Penn (Cornell has also beaten Dartmouth, whom Princeton has yet to play). Princeton's three Ivy wins are by a combined six goals; Cornell beat those three teams by a combined 18 goals. Of course, both teams beat Harvard by one on their home fields.
Conversely, Princeton beat Syracuse 12-8, while Syracuse beat Cornell 15-10.
And, lastly, both teams scored 14 goals in comfortable early-season wins over Canisius. Total impact on this game? None.
* * *
Cornell ranks 11th in Division I in face-off winning percentage (.560), while Princeton ranks 34th (.484). John Glynn of the Big Red ranks fourth in Division I, having won 61.8% of his draws, including 67.6% in two games a week ago (15 for 25 against Syracuse; 10 for 12 against Dartmouth).
Cornell won 16 of 21 face-offs against Princeton a year ago, including an 11-for-14 performance by Glynn.
Despite that, Princeton outshot Cornell 37-36 and Cornell only had one more ground ball than Princeton (25-24). Princeton also had one more save than Cornell (10-9).
Cornell also got off to a quick start, with two goals in the first 3:26, before Princeton came back to lead 4-2 at the half and win the game 11-7.
* * *
If you're looking for an omen for Cornell, it could be this: the last four weeks, the Ivy League Player of the Week has come from Cornell (Kyle Harer), Princeton (Rich Sgalardi), Cornell (Chris Finn) and then Princeton (Tommy Davis).
The Ivy League has awarded a Player and Rookie of the Week eight times this year. Either Princeton or Cornell has had the player six out of eight times and the rookie five out of eight times.
Davis is the current Ivy League Player of the Week after a six-goal, two-assist week in the wins over Penn and Harvard. Davis scored four goals on four shots against Penn, including the game-winner in overtime, and then had two goals and two assists against Harvard.
* * *
Princeton is ranked No. 1 for the first time since the 2001 season.
The Tigers' first No. 1 ranking (polls were first done weekly in 1973) was on March 22, 1994, meaning Princeton was never ranked No. 1 at any point during its 1992 NCAA championship season.
In all Princeton has now been ranked No. 1 in 24 different weekly in-season polls, including all 10 weeks of polls during the 1997 season. Princeton has played in the regular-season 27 times while ranked No. 1 and is 24-3 in those games.
Princeton's losses as No. 1 have come to Brown during the 1994 regular season and Virginia during the 1996 and 1998 regular seasons. Princeton came back to beat Brown in the 1994 NCAA semifinals en route to the championship and Virginia in the 1996 NCAA final and then won the 1998 NCAA tournament without playing UVa a second time.
Princeton has twice gone from being ranked No. 1 to No. 2 despite not losing as No. 1.
Princeton began the 2009 season ranked 12th in both the USILA coaches' poll and the Inside Lacrosse media poll.
* * *
Princeton has won consecutive 10-9 games, defeating Penn in overtime and then Harvard.
As an aside, only once in Princeton lacrosse history has Princeton ever played three straight games that had the exact same final score. Princeton lost to the Druids of Baltimore and Harvard and defeated New York University 3-1 during the 1886 season.
Forgetting that for a minute, Princeton is now 3-0 on the season in one-goal games after going 6-8 in one-goal games the last four years combined.
Bill Tierney is 37-22 in one-goal games as Princeton head coach, including a 14-4 record in one-goal NCAA tournament games and an 18-6 record all-time in overtime games.
* * *
Inside Lacrosse ranked the top freshmen in the country a week ago, and three of the top four will be playing in the Princeton-Cornell game.
Princeton defenseman Chad Wiedmaier was ranked No. 1, followed by Cornell attackman Rob Pannell at No. 2 and Princeton goalie Tyler Fiorito at No. 4.
Those three, not surprisingly, have combined to win five of the eight Ivy League Rookie of the Week awards.
* * *
Browns' 8-6 win over Harvard Wednesday night officially eliminated the Crimson from Ivy League championship contention. Yale, Dartmouth and Penn are also mathematically eliminated.
Cornell would clinch at least a share of the Ivy title with a win over Princeton.
All three remaining teams (Princeton, Cornell, Brown) can still win the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. All three can also be outright champ, or there could be co-champions or tri-champions.
Penn (2-4) has finished its Ivy League schedule, while Princeton has played half of its Ivy schedule.
* * *
Cornell is the No. 1 ranked scoring offense team in the country (13.9 goals per game). Princeton has played 11 games this season and has held its opponents on average 2.67 goals per game below their current scoring average.
The only two teams who have scored more goals against Princeton than they currently average are Albany (scored 11; averages 10.2) and Penn (scored nine; averages 8.6).
Princeton has played three teams currently ranked in the Top 10 in scoring offense and held those three (No. 3 Syracuse, No. 4 UMBC, No. 9 Johns Hopkins) to an average of 5.4 fewer goals per game each than they currently average.
Princeton ranks seventh in scoring offense (11.9).
* * *
Tommy Davis' goal in the third quarter of Princeton's 10th game (it was against Penn) was Princeton's 118th of the season, which was one better than the entire 13-game 2008 season.
* * *
Princeton averaged 48.2 shots per game with a team .256 shooting percentage for its first six games. During that time, Princeton took at least 50 shots four times.
Since then, Princeton has averaged 30.8 shots per game but with a team shooting percentage of .364. Princeton's scoring offense has gone from 12.3 goals per game for its first six games to 11.2 for the last five. The 11.2 goals per game is one fewer than the first six, but it would still be the first time since 2003 that Princeton averaged that many.
Princeton has twice taken only 23 shots, but on both occasions turned those 23 shots in double figures in goals (13 vs. Rutgers, 10 vs. Penn).
* * *
Princeton's shot totals for its first six games: 60-51-34-57-33-54. Princeton's shot totals for its last five games: 23-42-31-23-35.
* * *
Princeton has played 44 quarters through 11 games (obviously) and has scored at least four goals in 17 of those 44 (38.6%).
Princeton scored at least four goals eight times in 52 quarters for the 2008 season (15.4).
* * *
Princeton has outscored its opponents by a combined 44-13 in the third quarter. The Tigers have scored at least three goals nine times in 11 third quarters.
Princeton vs. Cornell
The site Schoellkopf Field ? Ithaca, N.Y.
The date Saturday, April 18, 2009 ? 1 p.m.
Radio WPRB FM 103.3; www.goprincetontigers.com
The rankings Princeton: No. 1 (USILA)/No. 1 (Inside Lacrosse)/ Cornell: No. 4 (USILA/No. 5 (Inside Lacrosse)
The records Princeton: 10-1 (3-0 Ivy League)/Cornell: 9-2 (4-0 Ivy League)
The coaches Princeton: Bill Tierney (25th season overall, 269-91)/Cornell: Jeff Tambroni (ninth season overall, 93-32)
The series Princeton leads 36-30-2
Last meeting Princeton defeated Cornell 11-7 ? April 19, 2008
What Can You Say About ...
Nikhil Ashra #23
? played 49:32 against Manhattan, making four saves while allowing five goals
? played second half against Canisius, allowing three goals and making five saves
? played second half against Hofstra
? played 6:19 last year and 35:33 as a freshman as Alex Hewit's backup
Paul Barnes #31
? has won 110 of 221 face-offs (.498)
? Ivy League Co-Player of the Week after winning 20 of 25 face-offs (80%) against UMBC and Manhattan
? won 13 of 15 face-offs against UMBC, including the first 11
? won face-off with 57 seconds remaining after UMBC had scored to make it 6-5
? scored two goals against Johns Hopkins after face-off wins
? became first Princeton face-off man to score a goal in a game since Drew Casino in 2004
? also scored a goal against Yale
? won 10 of 20 face-offs against Hopkins
? won 15 of 29 face-offs against Albany
? won 13 of 22 face-offs against Canisius
? won 7 of 10 face-offs against Manhattan
Alex Capretta #1
? attackman currently playing on second midfield
? scored first career goal in win over Rutgers
John Cunningham #3
? broke his jaw in practice March 19 and is out indefinitely
? scored goal against Johns Hopkins
? goal against Hopkins was assisted by Chad Wiedmaier and became first longstick-to-longstick goal since Bill Tierney has been Princeton head coach
? played against Canisius as No. 1 longstick midfield in place of Charlie Kolkin, who was out with injury
? has six caused turnovers
? had four caused turnovers and three ground balls against
Canisius
Jimmy Davis #5
? played in every game as third shortstick defensive midfielder
? played most of Harvard game after injury to Brendan Reilly
? had first career assist against Harvard
? caused two turnovers against Hofstra
? missed most of first two years due to injury
Tommy Davis #7
? has 123 career points, 19th all-time at Princeton
? needs four to move into three-way tie for 17th with Bill Chaires '75 and Charles Stillwell '85
? Ivy League Player of the Week after a six-goal, two-assist week in wins against Penn and Harvard
? had two goals and two assists against Harvard
? scored four goals, including game-winner in overtime, on four shots against Penn
? had career-high five goals and tied career high with seven points gainst Manhattan
? had two goals and two assists against Rutgers
? had four assists against Albany
? had three goals against Canisius
? had two goals against Yale
? had two assists against Hopkins
? had a goal and assist against Syracuse
? led team in goals and assists last year, becoming first player since Justin Tortolani in 1990 to lead the team in goals and assists in same season (Peter Trombino led the team in goals and tied for team lead in assists in 2006)
? has led team in assists each of the last two years
Long Ellis #14
? playing as fourth defenseman and second longstick midfielder in John Cunningham's absence
? played longstick midfield and shortstick defensive midfield against Harvard
? four ground balls and two caused turnovers against Syracuse
? had three ground balls and a caused turnover against Yale
? had game-winning goal in one game and assisted on game-winning goal in other game against English national team during team's trip to Spain and Ireland last June
Rob Engelke #22
? has seven goals on 10 shots (.700 shooting percentage)
? tied career high with three goals and set career high with five points against Manhattan
? made first career start in win over Manhattan
? scored goal against Hopkins and Syracuse
? scored two goals against Canisius
? had an assist against Albany
? plays mostly in man-up situations
? tied with Mark Kovler for team lead with four man-up goals
Tyler Fiorito #6
? has started every game
? made 15 saves, including one on a tough shot from 10 yards out with 38 seconds left, in 10-9 win over Harvard
? Inside Lacrosse Division I Player of the Week after his 15-save performance in 12-8 win against Syracuse in Big City Classic
? also earned Ivy Rookie of the Week honors for second time after Syracuse game
? named by Inside Lacrosse fourth best freshman in Division I
? helped hold Syracuse to more than six goals below average for season (14.1 prior to game); Syracuse had been ranked No. 1 in scoring offense in Division I
? also Ivy League Rookie of the Week after wins over UMBC and Manhattan
? made 10 saves while allowing five goals against UMBC
? made 13 saves while allowing 10 goals against Albany
? played entire game against Hopkins, making 11 saves for first career double-figure save total
? made five second quarter saves against Hopkins as Princeton built a 9-1 lead
? started and played first half against Canisius, making four saves and allowing three goals
? allowed six goals and made nine saves against Rutgers
? made 10 saves while allowing seven goals while playing all 60 minutes against Yale, including nine saves and three goals allowed in final three quarters
? started and played first eight minutes against Manhattan, allowing one goal and making two saves
? member of United States U19 team that won World Championship last summer in Vancouver
Jeremy Hirsch #37
? started 24 straight games on defense
? has seven caused turnovers
? started every game last two seasons on defense
? played in 13 of 14 games as freshman as fourth defenseman
Charlie Kolkin #43
? No. 1 longstick midfielder
? third on the team with 10 caused turnovers
? 2009 preseason All-America
? returned to lineup after missing game against Canisius with a minor injury; it was first game missed in his career
? named Nike/Inside Lacrosse Division I Player of the Week after Princeton's win over Cornell last year
? held Cornell All-America John Glynn without a point a year ago
Mark Kovler #17
? mid-season second-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
? one of 21 Tewaaraton Trophy nominees
? 16th all-time at Princeton with 79 career goals; next up is Jon Hess '98 with 82, Dave Huebeck '80 with 83 and then three players with 94
? became 22nd player in program history to reach 100 mark for career with two goals and two assists against Harvard
? had three goals against Syracuse in Big City Classic
? tied career high of four goals in consecutive games against Rutgers and Albany
? in all has four four-goal games in career (vs. Syracuse sophomore year and Virginia a year ago)
? four goals against Rutgers all came in the second half, on four shots
? had two goals against Yale
? has 11 goals in last four games after getting shut out at Hofstra
? had two goals and an assist against UMBC
? had two goals against Hopkins
? had a goal against Canisius and a goal and assist against Manhattan
? suffered broken ankle in practice last April 10 and missed
remainder of season
? three-time All-America
? preseason third-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
Josh Lesko #19
? has gone from starting 12 games a year ago at midfield to being first shortstick defensive middie unit with Brendan Reilly
? has more goals this year (four) as a defensive middie than a year ago (two) as an offensive middie
? second on team with 24 ground balls
? had two goals, seven ground balls and two caused turnovers against Albany
? had a goal and assist against Hofstra
? scored a goal against Johns Hopkins
? had an assist against Manhattan
Scott MacKenzie #2
? held without a point for first time this season in win over Harvard
? has 11 goals in 10 games this season after having four his first two seasons combined
? had a goal and two assists against Syracuse and Penn
? had career-high three goals and four points vs. Manhattan
? had two goals and an assist against Yale
? had Princeton's first goal against Hopkins, Hofstra and Yale
? had a goal and two assists against Rutgers
? had two assists against Albany and an assist against UMBC
? had a goal and assist against Canisius
Chris McBride #15
? had three goals and an assist against Harvard
? had an assist against Syracuse after being shut out against Yale, ending nine-game scoring streak
? had career-high four goals against Albany
? had two goals against UMBC
? started and ended Princeton's 5-0 third-quarter run against UMBC
? had a goal against Hopkins and Hofstra
? scored two goals against Canisius
? had a goal and assist against Manhattan and an assist against Rutgers
? had two goals a year ago
? moved from midfield to starting on attack alongside cousin Jack McBride
? scored 60 goals as a high school senior two years ago at Delbarton
Jack McBride #14
? one of 21 Tewaaraton Trophy nominees
? leads team with 27 goals and tied for team lead with 33 points despite missing game against Manhattan
? needs four goals to join B.J. Prager, Sean Hartofilis and Jason Doneger as Princeton players this decade to reach 50 goals by end of sophomore year
? has been Princeton's leading goal-scorer in six of the 10 games in which he has played
? had two goals against Harvard, including game-winner with 1:58 to play
? had two goals and game-winning assist in overtime against Penn
? had three goals against Syracuse
? tied career high with six goals against Albany
? scored four goals against Hopkins while matched against All-America defenseman Michael Evans
? led Princeton with four goals and five points against Canisius
? all four goals against Canisius came after halftime, as Princeton erased 3-2 deficit
? had one goal against UMBC after spending two nights prior in infirmary with stomach flu; did not play against Manhattan
? had two goals and an assist against Hofstra and Yale
? had a goal and assist against Rutgers
? 2008 Ivy League Rookie of the Year
? member of United States U19 team that won World Championship last summer in Vancouver
Jonathan Meyers #28
? has faced off and played on defense and on wings on face-offs
? recruited for football by schools such as Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma; plays football and lacrosse at Princeton
Tyler Moni #27
? playing on second midfield group
? scored first career goal in win over Manhattan
? had an assist against Albany
? had three goals during Princeton's European trip for highest goal total by any current player
Chris Peyser #38
? named co-Division I Defenseman of the Week by Christian Swezey of Inside Lacrosse along with teammate Chad Wiedmaier after Hopkins game
? preseason third-team All-America
? has started 38 straight games on defense
? second on team with 12 caused turnovers
? team tri-captain
Brendan Reilly #29
? team tri-captain
? preseason honorable mention All-America
? one of top two shortstick D-middies since freshman year
? suffered ankle injury against Harvard; status for Cornell game is uncertain
? helped hold Kyle Wimer of UMBC, who had been reigning DI Player of the Week and team's leading scorer, to one goal
? had a goal against Syracuse in man-down situation
? had an assist against Canisius
? a Woodrow Wilson Schoool Scholar in the Nation's Service
? completed Marine Corps Office Candidate School over summer and will be commissioned a 2nd Lt. after graduation
? also an All-Collegiate Sprint Football League selection in varsity sport for players 174 pounds or less
Greg Seaman #42
? team tri-captain
? scored a goal against Hopkins
? scored a goal against Rutgers
? son of Towson coach Tony Seaman
Rich Sgalardi #18
? only player with at least one point in every game
? has 32 points in 11 games after having 18 points his first three years combined
? had a goal against Harvard to end a streak of four straight games with at least four points
? tied career high with five points against Penn (2G, 3A)
? had two goals and two assists against Syracuse
? named to Inside Lacrosse Team of the Week after Syracuse game
? Ivy League Player of the Week after having five goals and four assists in wins over Rutgers and Yale
? had career high five points against Yale (2G, 3A), eclipsing career-high for points set four days earlier against Rutgers
? had career-high three goals and four points against Rutgers
? had two goals and an assist against Albany
? had a goal and assist against UMBC
? had a goal and two assists against Canisius
? had two assists against Johns Hopkins and Manhattan
Chad Wiedmaier #9
? ranked as No. 1 freshman in Division I by Inside Lacrosse and to IL's Team of the Week after Syracuse game
? ranked as fifth-best defenseman by Inside Lacrosse; only freshman of 28 players named as top seven at their position
? leads team with 16 caused turnovers
? had three caused turnovers in each of last two games (Harvard, Syracuse)
? stripped Harvard's Dean Gibbons in front of goal with five seconds remaining to preserve Princeton win
? Ivy League Rookie of the Week after holding Hopkins' Steven Boyle to one goal and matching Boyle's point total with an assist of his own
? assist came on goal by fellow freshman longstick John Cunningham for the first longstick-to-longstick goal since Bill Tierney has been head coach
? named co-Division I Defenseman of the Week by Christian Swezey of Inside Lacrosse along with teammate Chris Peyser after Hopkins game
? caused three turnovers against Albany
? third-ranked current freshman by Inside Lacrosse