Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
No. 5 Princeton To Meet No. 20 Yale For 91st Time
March 25, 2010 | Men's Lacrosse
Because of the addition of the Ivy League tournament, the regular-season schedule was shuffled a bit for the 2010 season.
As a result, Princeton opened its league schedule last week against Penn on a Saturday, marking the first time since 1979 that the teams did not play a midweek game.
It was two years before that, 1977, that Princeton also opened its Ivy schedule with Penn, and that was the last time before this year that Princeton did not play Yale in its first Ivy game.
Princeton and Yale have a great deal of lacrosse history, dating back to Oct. 14, 1882, when the teams played for the first time. You can expect a higher-scoring game this year; Yale won that first meeting 2-0.
Princeton defeated Yale 11-7 last year in New Haven in a game that was 4-3 Yale at the half and 5-5 before Rich Sgalardi's goal with 27 seconds left in the third put the Tigers up for good. Princeton would score five of the final six goals of the game.
The last time Princeton played at Yale in consecutive seasons was 1976 and 1977.
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Princeton and Yale meet for the 91st time; Princeton has played Yale more than any other opponent.
Princeton leads the all-time series 68-20-2. The Tigers have an 8-2 edge in the last 10 meetings; one of the Yale wins in the last 10 years came in 2002, when the Bulldogs ended Princeton's 37-game Ivy League winning streak two games shy of the all-time league record.
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Yale has pretty much dominated Princeton in face-offs in the last five years, winning 70 of 98 during that stretch.
Princeton's worst face-off day in that run was in 2005, when Dan Kallaugher won 17 of 20 overall and 13 for 13 in the final three quarters as Yale won 9-8. Princeton's best day was last year, when the Yale won 12 of 22 as Kevin Discepolo took all 22 for the Bulldogs and Paul Barnes went 10 for 20 and Peter Smyth went 0 for 2 for Princeton.
Discepolo graduated, and while Barnes is still playing for Princeton, he no longer faces off. Instead, Barnes is playing as a regular in the midfield.
Princeton has rotated three players on face-offs, with freshmen Bobby Lucas (23 for 42, .548) and Jeff Froccaro (37 for 70, .529) joining Smyth (15 for 37, .405). The rotation worked well last week against Penn, as the Tigers won just 4 of 14 in the first three quarters and then 7 of 11 the rest of the way.
Yale might not have Discepolo or Kallaugher or any of the others who have dominated Princeton the last five years, but the Bulldogs do have the No. 5 face-off man in Division I in senior Max Rodman, who has won 68 of 111 (.631). Rodman has taken 111 of Yale's 121 face-offs.
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Chris Bates has been the coach of Princeton's men's lacrosse team for six games, of which two have gone into overtime (that's one every three games). Princeton defeated Johns Hopkins and Penn in OT this season, both times giving up a late score to tie it (13 seconds lefst against Hopkins, 17 against Penn) and then winning the face-off to start overtime and never allowing the opponent to have possession.
Bates was the head coach of Drexel's men's lacrosse team for 10 years and 141 games, of which five went into overtime (one every 28.2 games).
Bates went 2-3 in those five overtime games, which means he has won as many OT games in his first six games at Princeton as he did in his 10 years at Drexel.
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Princeton has not had the Ivy League Player of the Year in the first four weeks of the season, but it has won the Ivy League's Rookie of the Week award each of those four weeks, as Jeff Froccaro won the first two and Mike Chanenchuk has won the last two.
In fact, either could have won it last week, after Chanenchuk scored six goals and had two assists in two games and Froccaro had two goals and an assist against Penn, including the game-winner in overtime, while winning 7 of 11 face-offs, including the one to start overtime.
Chanenchuk leads Princeton with 14 goals and 19 points and is the fastest Princeton freshman ever to 10 goals. Froccaro has 10 goals and 11 points and is the second fastest Princeton freshman to 10 career goals.
If you're looking way ahead, the freshman record for goals is 25, by B.J. Prager in 1999. Princeton has had five freshmen reach at least 20 goals: Prager with 25, Peter Trombino with 24 in 2004, Jesse Hubbard with 23 in 1995, Chris Massey with 21 in 1995 and Sean Hartofilis with 20 in 2000.
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Princeton trailed North Carolina 10-5 late in the third quarter and then tied it 10-10 before falling 12-11.
Against Penn in its next game, Princeton trailed 6-1 at the half, 7-1 early in the third and 9-5 with 7:30 to play before scoring four goals in a 1:18 span to tie it and eventually winning it 11-10 in overtime.
During the run against Penn, Jack McBride scored two goals in 12 seconds.
The school record for shortest time between consecutive goals is six seconds (Matt Trevenen and B.J. Prager vs. Syracuse in 1999. The record for fastest two goals by the same player? It's something more than six seconds, but there's no way to know if anyone has ever beaten McBride's two in 12 seconds.
Another uncheckable possible record is ground balls in a game. John Cunningham had 10 against North Carolina, which is unlikely to be the Princeton single-game record, though it is the first time in a long time a player has had double figures.
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Princeton scored 17 goals against despite having a 16:11 scoreless stretch against ofstra. Princeton scored 11 goals against Penn despite being shut ouf for the first 26:14.
Princeton scored no goals in the first quarter, one goal in the second quarter, three goals in the third quarter, six goals in the fourth quarter and one goal in the overtime against Penn.
In the game before that, Princeton scored four first-half goals and seven second-half goals against North Carolina.
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Princeton has reached double figures in each of its first six games. The only time a Princeton team has had a longer such streak to start a season was 1951, when Princeton reached double figures in all 10 games en route to the USILA national championship.
In fact, counting the last game of 1950 and the first game of 1952, Princeton was in double figures for 12 straight games, a program record.
Princeton did not reach double figures in its final game of 2009, so its current streak is also six straight games.
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Through six games, Princeton has two players who have at least one goal in every game, and they share the same last night.
Jack McBride and Chris McBride each has at least one in every game. Jack McBride has scored at least one goal in 30 of 33 career games.
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Princeton has had 10 fewer extra-man opportunities than its opponents and has scored one-third as many goals.
Princeton's is 3 for 15 on extra-man opportunities; its opponents are 9 for 25.
Of the 60 Division I teams, Princeton ranks 59th with three extra-man goals - ahead of only Yale, who has two.
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Princeton has played six games this season, and both teams have reached double figures in four of them.
Prior to this year, both teams reached double figures in four of Princeton's previous 77 games, dating to 2004.
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What Can You Say About ...
Nikhil Ashra #23
• No. 2 goalie currently recovering from concussion
• has been backup to Alex Hewit for first two years and now Tyler Fiorito last year and this year; each of first three years, starting goalie has been an All-America
• has a a career .568 save percentage and 7.67 goals-against average
Paul Barnes #31
• scored a goal against Manhattan and UMBC
• has faced-off once this season but is playing regularly in the midfield
• won 145 of 299 face-offs a year ago
• scored four goals off of face-offs in 2009; Princeton had not gotten a goal from its face-off specialist since 2004 prior to that
Christian Blake #32
• backup goalie with Nikhil Ashra's injury
• played 9:24 of fourth quarter against Manhattan
• has played 13:18 in his career, with a .429 save percentage
Chris Chandler #16
• starting at shortstick defensive middie
• had one caused turnover against Hofstra, Manhattan and UMBC
• played in three games last year as longstick middie after playing in every game sophomore year
Mike Chanenchuk #13
• leads team in goals with 14 and points with 19
• fastest Princeton freshman ever to 10 goals
• Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the second week in a row after scoring six goals and having two assists against North Carolina and Penn
• also named to Inside Lacrosse Team of the Week
• had three goals against North Carolina, including scoring the team's ninth and 10th goals to tie it 10-10 in the fourth
• had three goals and two assists against Penn
• Ivy League Rookie of the Week after scoring six goals in wins over Manhattan and UMBC
• had five goals against Manhattan despite playing only 2.5 quarters
• scored on his first five shots against Manhattan
• five goals was second-highest single-game total ever by a Princeton freshman, behind only Jack McBride's six against Penn two years ago
• had a goal against UMBC
• had two assists against Hopkins
• had two goals and an assist against Hofstra
• defered last year after suffering a back injury and is now a freshman
• was ranked 18th by Inside Lacrosse in its list of top Division I freshmen
John Cunningham #3
• starting on defense, but can also play considerably at longstick midfield
• leads team with 29 ground balls
• had 14 ground balls in first four games and 15 in last two
• had five ground balls and two caused turnovers against Penn
• had a goal, a caused turnover and 10 ground balls against North Carolina
• goal against UNC was assisted by Jeremy Hirsch; both of Cunningham's career goals have been assisted by a longstick, and they are the only two longstick-to-longstick goals in at least the last 23 years
• had two caused turnovers and three ground balls against UMBC
• helped hold Johns Hopkins All-America middie Michael Kimmel to one goal
• had six ground balls and two caused turnovers against Hofstra
• had 13 caused turnovers and 23 ground balls a year ago despite missing six games with a broken jaw
Jimmy Davis #5
• shortstick defensive midfielder
• had an assist, a caused turnover and three ground balls against Hofstra
• played in every game as third shortstick a year ago, behind graduated Josh Lesko and Brendan Reilly
• had four caused turnovers a year ago
• younger brother of Tommy Davis, who graduated last year after starting for four years on attack
Long Ellis #41
• leads team with nine caused turnovers
• held All-America attackmen Billy Bitter (North Carolina) and Stephen Boyle (Johns Hopkins) to one goal each
• had two caused turnovers against Penn
• had two caused turnovers and three ground balls against Hofstra
• had three caused turnovers against Manhattan
• listed as starter on defense, but can play defense or longstick midfield and has played with a shortstick in the past
Rob Engelke #22
• starting on attack
• leads team with 11 assists and is second with 18 points
• had three goals against Carolina to tie career high
• had two goals and an assist against UMBC
• had three assists against Hopkins
• had a goal and four assists against Hofstra
• had a goal and assist against Penn
• had two assists against Manhattan
• had four assists all of last year and nine assists for his career prior to this season
• five points against Hofstra tied career high, set last year against Manhattan
• had made one career start prior to this season but played considerably every year as fourth attackman and on extra man unit
• has 24 career goals on 49 career shots (.490)
• had nine goals on 15 shots last year for .600 shooting percentage, best on team for players with more than one shot
Tyler Fiorito #6
• preseason second-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
• a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee
• made 11 saves while allowing five goals against UMBC
• had eight saves while allowing four goals against Manhattan
• honorable mention All-America and second-team All-IvyLeague last year as a freshman
• started every game of his career
• ranked fourth in Division I in goals-against (7.40) and 11th in Division I in save percentage (.587) a year ago
• made 15 saves against Syracuse in 12-8 win to earn Division I Player of the Week honors from Inside Lacrosse
• member of United States U19 team that won 2008 World Championship in Vancouver
Jeff Froccaro #18
• has 10 goals and is second-fastest Princeton freshman to reach double figures, behind only teammate Mike Chanenchuk
• has won 37 of 70 face-offs (.529)
• scored game-winning goal in overtime against Penn
• had two goals and an assist and won 7 of 11 face-offs against Penn
• won face-off to start overtime against both Penn and Hopkins; Princeton won both without ever giving up possession
• Ivy League Rookie of the Week each of first two weeks of the season
• seven goals is the most by a Princeton freshman in his first two games; previously, no freshman had scored more than three in his first two games
• had four goals on six shots against Hopkins, including back-to-back goals to make it 10-8 Princeton in the fourth
• also won 10 of 17 face-offs, including the one to start OT
• scored three goals on three shots against Hofstra in first college game
• nine of his 10 goals have come in the second half or overtime
• first goal against Hofstra gave Princeton lead for good in third quarter; last two goals both came in fourth quarter after Hofstra had twice cut Princeton's lead to one
• came back from torn ACL as a high school sophomore and then in the final game of his high school career to play in the season opener
Mike Grossman #8
• first-line midfielder
• had a goal and two assists against Penn, all in the second half
• scored first career goal in win over Hofstra
• ankle injury wiped out almost entire freshman year
• was the No. 38-ranked recruit by Inside Lacrosse a year ago
Jeremy Hirsch #37
• team captain
• preseason honorable mention All-America
• had first career point when he assisted on John Cunningham's goal against North Carolina
• started every game but one since the start of sophomore year and has played in every game but one in his career
Bobby Lucas #17
• has won 23 of 42 face-offs (team-best .548) after not playing in first two games
• won 9 of 16 face-offs against UMBC, including winning first seven
• won 5 of 6 against Manhattan
• won 5 of 9 against North Carolina
Scott MacKenzie #2
• a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee
• scored overtime goal to defeat Hopkins; goal came after he missed all six of his shots in regulation
• scored a goal against Hofstra and had two assists against North Carolina
• preseason honorable mention All-America by Inside Lacrosse
• only returning midfield starter
• had 29 points a year ago; every other current middie on the team had a combined career total of 18 prior to this season
Chris McBride #15
• has at least one goal in all six games
• had two goals and an assist against North Carolina
• had a goal and two assists against Hopkins
• had four goals against Hofstra, tying career high set last year against Albany
• had four goals on six shots and scored one goal in every quarter against Hofstra
• had a goal and assist against UMBC
• had one goal against Manhattan and Penn
• had 18 goals and six assists last year
• moved from midfield to starting on attack alongside cousin Jack McBride last year
• his father is Jack McBride's father's brother; his mother is Jack McBride's mother's first cousin
Jack McBride #14
• a preseason first-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
• a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee
• second-team All-America a year ago
• first-team All-Ivy League selection
• second for team lead with 13 goals
• third on the team with 17 points
• ranks 26th all-time at Princeton with 67 career goals; needs one goal to tie Andy Moe for 25th and 10 goals to move into 18th place
• has 13 career assists, two of which have come in overtime
• had three goals and then assisted on game-winner in overtime against Hopkins
• had three goals against Penn, including two goals 12 seconds apart during Princeton's 4-0 run in a 1:18 span of the fourth quarter to tie it
• had two goals and an assist against North Carolina, Hofstra and UMBC
• had a goal against Manhattan
• one of four Princeton players (B.J. Prager, Sean Hartofilis, Jason Doneger) in the last 10 years to reach 50 goals by the end of sophomore year
• led team with 35 goals last year
• led team in scoring eight times in 16 games last year
• 2008 Ivy League Rookie of the Year
• member of United States U19 team that won 2008 World Championship in Vancouver
• his father is Chris McBride's father's brother; his mother is Chris McBride's mother's first cousin
Jonathan Meyers #28
• started on defense against Hofstra and longstick midfield since
• had two caused turnovers against Penn
• had a caused turnover in each of the first four games
• gave up football to concentrate on lacrosse
• 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, as a defensive shortstick and one the wings on face-offs
• had an assist and five ground balls against Penn, including two ground balls after face-offs during Princeton's 4-0 run in the fourth quarter to tie it and then on the face-off to start OT
• had two goals in each of first two games, against Hofstra and Hopkins
• had one goal against Manhattan and UMBC
• had two career goals prior to this season
• had two goals and an assist last year
Peter Smyth #26
• has won 15 of 37 face-offs and played shortstick D middie
• had first career points with a goal and assist against Hofstra
• won three of eight face-offs against Hopkins while playing considerably as shortstick D middie
• father Francis played lacrosse at Princeton, graduating in 1982
Chad Wiedmaier #9
• preseason first-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
• is out until at least midseason after having knee surgery in the fall
• second-team All-America as a freshman
• first-team All-Ivy League as a freshman
• first freshman defenseman and third freshman ever to be first-team All-Ivy at Princeton (Scott Bacigalupo, B.J. Prager)
• ranked as No. 2 freshman in Division I by Inside Lacrosse
Game-By-Game
HOFSTRA (W, 17-14)
GOALS - C. McBride 4, Froccaro 3, J. McBride 2, Chanenchuk 2, Moni 2, MacKenzie 1, Smyth 1, Grossman 1, Engelke 1
ASSISTS - Engelke 4, Chanencuk 1, J. McBride 1, Davis 1, Smyth 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:00 min, 14 goals-against, 11 saves)
JOHNS HOPKINS (W, 11-10, OT)
GOALS - Froccaro 4, J. McBride 3, Moni 2, MacKenzie 1, C. McBride 1
ASSISTS - Engelke 3, Chanencuk 2, C. McBride 2, J. McBride 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:59 min, 10 goals-against, 8 saves)
MANHATTAN (W, 13-8)
GOALS - Chanenchuk 5, J. McBride 1, C. McBride 1, Barnes 1, Froccaro 1, Shanley 1, Styer 1, Moni 1, Sonnenfeldt 1
ASSISTS - Engelke 2, MacKenzie 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (49:00 min, 4 goals-against, 8 saves), Blake (9:24, 3 goals-against, 1 save), Larrabee (1:36, 1 goal-against, no saves)
UMBC (W, 10-5)
GOALS - J. McBride 2, MacKenzie 2, Engelke 2, C. McBride 1, Barnes 1, Chanenchuk 1, Moni 1
ASSISTS - Engelke 1, J. McBride 1, C. McBride 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:00 min, 5 goals-against, 11 saves)
NORTH CAROLINA (L, 12-11)
GOALS - Chanenchuk 3, Engelke 3, J. McBride 2, C. McBride 2, Cunningham 1
ASSISTS - MacKenzie 2, Hirsch 1, J. McBride 1, C. McBride 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:00 min, 12 goals-against, 4 saves)
PENN (W, 11-10, OT)
GOALS - Chanenchuk 3, J. McBride 3, Froccaro 2, Grossman 1, Engelke 1, C. McBride 1
ASSISTS - Chanenchuk 2, Grossman 2, MacKenzie 1, Moni 1, Engelke 1, Froccaro 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:00 min, 12 goals-against, 4 saves)
Career Scoring
Player G-A-Pts
14 Jack McBride 67-13-80
2 Scott MacKenzie 21-31-52
22 Rob Engelke 25-20-44
3 Chris McBride 30-12-42
13 Mike Chanenchuk 14-5-19
27 Tyler Moni 8-2-10
18 Jeff Froccaro 10-1-11
31 Paul Barnes 5-0-5
8 Mike Grossman 2-2-4
11 Ryan Morrell 2-1-3
21 Connor Reilly 2-1-3
3 John Cunningham 2-1-3
26 Peter Smyth 1-1-2
9 Chad Wiedmaier 1-1-2
5 Jimmy Davis 0-2-2
47 Cliff Larkin 1-0-1
1 Alex Capretta 1-0-1
24 David Marshall 0-1-1
7 Tucker Shanley 1-0-1
36 Derek Styer 1-0-1
43 Forest Sonnenfeldt 1-0-1
37 Jeremy Hirsch 0-1-1
PRINCETON
PROBABLE LINEUP
Attack
14 Jack McBride Jr.. 13-4-17
22 Rob Engelke Sr. 7-11-18
15 Chris McBride Jr. 10-4-14
First Midfield
2 Scott MacKenzie Sr. 4-4-8
8 Mike Grossman So. 2-2-4
13 Mike Chanenchuk Fr. 14-5-19
Second Midfield
27 Tyler Moni Jr. 6-1-6
18 Jeff Froccaro Fr. 10-1-11
29 Chris White Fr. 0-0-0
Third Midfield
31 Paul Barnes Sr. 2-0-2
1 Alex Capretta So. 0-0-0
7 Tucker Shanley Fr. 1-0-1
Longstick Midfielder
28 Jonathan Meyers So. 11 GB, 6CT
36 Derek Styer Jr. 1G, 1 CT,1GB
Shortstick Defensive Midfielder
16 Chris Chandler Sr. 3 CT
5 Jimmy Davis Sr. 1A,1 CT,7GB
26 Peter Smyth So. 1-1-2, 6GB
Face-Off
17 Bobby Lucas Fr. 23x42
26 Peter Smyth So. 15x37
18 Jeff Froccaro Fr. 37x70
Defense
3 John Cunningham So. 1G, 7 CT, 29 GB
37 Jeremy Hirsch Sr. 1A, 4 CT, 4 GB
41 Long Ellis Jr. 9 CT, 10 GB
Goal
6 Tyler Fiorito So. 9.35 GAA
.455 S%
Princeton vs. Yale
The site Reese Stadium • New Haven, Conn.
The date Saturday, March 27, 2010 • 1 p.m.
Radio/TV none
The records Princeton: 5-1 (1-0 Ivy League)
Yale: 4-1 (0-1 Ivy League)
The rankings Princeton: No. 5 Inside Lacrosse/No. 5 USILA
Yale: No. 20 Inside Lacrosse/No. 20 USILA
The coaches
Princeton: Chris Bates
first season at Princeton, 5-1/11th season overall, 75-72
Yale: Andy Shay
seventh season at Yale, 39-46
The series Princeton leads 68-20-2
Last meeting Princeton defeated Yale 11-7 • March 28, 2009