Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton, Rutgers Meet For 89th Time In Men's Lacrosse
April 11, 2010 | Men's Lacrosse
The first men's lacrosse game in Princeton history was played in 1881. It was six years later that the game was first played by Rutgers.
Clearly, the sport didn't take at first on the banks of the Raritan, as RU dropped its team in 1889. Princeton gave up on lacrosse a little after that, in 1893.
It would take nearly 30 years and the work of one man to revive the sport on both campuses. Harland (Tots) Meistrell went from Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn to Rutgers in 1920, where he played varsity football as a freshman and also restarted lacrosse.
A year later, in 1921, he did the same at Princeton. Today, he represents both schools in the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Since that 1921 season, Princeton and Rutgers have played every year except for the World War II seasons of 1944 and 1945. Since 1958, the winner of the game has received the Harland Meistrell Cup.
The 2010 meeting will be the 89th in the series, and Princeton brings a 55-29-3 lead into the game. The Tigers have won 21 of the last 22 meetings, including a 13-6 win last year at Yurcak Field.
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Both Princeton and Rutgers will be playing three days after suffering one-sided defeats in which neither ever led.
Princeton lost 13-4 to Syracuse in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic before 25,710 at the New Meadowlands Stadium. The game was 3-2 in the second quarter before Syracuse scored nine straight goals.
Earlier in the day, Rutgers fell 17-10 at Jacksonville in a game the Scarlet Knights trailed for the final 48:50.
Princeton trailed for the final 56:48 against the Orange.
Rutgers will play Syracuse this coming Sunday in its next game after Princeton.
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Princeton and Rutgers are located about 15 miles apart in Central New Jersey.
Rutgers has 28 players on its roster from New Jersey. Princeton has eight players on its roster from New Jersey.
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Princeton coach Chris Bates played at Dartmouth, graduating in 1990.
Rutgers coach Jim Stagnitta played at Penn and graduated in 1984, but he was an assistant coach at Penn in 1988 and 1989 under Tony Seaman and coached against Bates when the Princeton coach was a player at Dartmouth.
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Princeton and Rutgers are both in the first year of new situations within their conferences.
For Rutgers, this is the first year of official Big East lacrosse, after the Scarlet Knights formerly competed in the ECAC for men's lacrosse.
For Princeton, this is the first year of an Ivy League tournament, which will determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament (but not its official champion, which is determined by the regular-season round robin as always).
Rutgers and Princeton finish their regular seasons with league games after playing each other.
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Princeton is the lone undefeated team in Ivy League men's lacrosse at 3-0, with wins over Penn, Yale and Brown.
Cornell is 3-1 in the league, while Brown is 2-1, Yale is 2-2, Harvard and Dartmouth are 1-2 and Penn is 0-4.
Princeton has games remaining against Dartmouth (Saturday at home), Harvard (April 24 in Cambridge) and Cornell (May 1) at home.
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Princeton is 7-2, with wins over Top 20 teams Hofstra, Johns Hopkins, Brown and Yale and losses to Top 5 teams Syracuse and North Carolina.
Princeton and Rutgers have had one common opponent to date, UMBC. Rutgers fell to the Retrievers 6-5 on Feb. 28, while Princeton defeated UMBC 10-5 two weeks later.
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Mike Chanenchuk is the fastest Princeton freshman ever to reach 10 goals and he is second on the team now with 16.
The Princeton freshman record is 25, set by B.J. Prager in 1999. Chanenchuk needs four to become the sixth Princeton freshman to reach 20, along with Peter Trombino (24 in 2004), Jesse Hubbard (23 in 1995), Chris Massey (21 in 1995) and Sean Hartofilis (20 in 2000).
Chanenchuk scored twice against Syracuse after not scoring in back-to-back games against Yale and Brown.
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Princeton was 0 for 8 on extra-man opportunities before Forest Sonnenfeldt's goal with 1:35 to play in the game against Syracuse.
Princeton had 22 EMOs in its first eight games (2.7 per game) before having nine against Syracuse.
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Princeton has four players in double figures in goals, of whom two are freshmen (Mike Chanenchuk, Jeff Froccaro) and two are juniors (Jack and Chris McBride).
Princeton has scored 93 goals on the season, of which three have come from longsticks (two by John Cunningham, one by Derek Styer). Of the remaining 90, the senior class has 16, the junior class has 39, the sophomore class has four and the freshman class has 31.
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Princeton has won 21 straight games at the Class of 1952 Stadium, dating to a 4-3 loss to Cornell in 2006.
Princeton's home winning streak, though, is 15 straight, dating to a 2008 loss to Virginia in a game played at Princeton Stadium.
Princeton has played as many games in NFL stadiums as it has home games to date this season. In fact, of Princeton's nine games, three have been at home (Hofstra, UMBC, Penn), three have been away (at Manhattan, at North Carolina, at Yale) and three have been at NFL stadiums (Johns Hopkins at M&T Bank Stadium, Brown at Gillette Stadium, Syracuse at New Meadowlands Stadium).
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What Can You Say About ...
Nikhil Ashra #23
• No. 2 goalie currently recovering from two concussions
• 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 Princeton's eighth goal in 9-7 win over Brown
• also scored a goal against Manhattan and UMBC
• faced off three times against Brown after facing off once prior during this season and 299 times a year ago as the team's top face-off man
• has gone from facing off to playing in second midfield
• 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
Alex Capretta #1
• scored first goal of the season in win over Brown
• also scored against Rutgers last year
• is playing as a fourth attackman
Chris Chandler #16
• 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
• tied second on the team in goals with 16 and third in points with 21
• fastest Princeton freshman ever to 10 goals
• was 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 two goals against Syracuse
• 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
John Cunningham #3
• started first six games on defense before moving back to natural position of longstick midfielder
• mid-season second-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
• leads team with 35 ground balls, 11 more than the next-highest total
• third on the team with eight caused turnovers
• scored a goal against Brown
• 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 five ground balls and two caused turnovers against Penn
• 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 13 caused turnovers
• had four caused turnovers against Yale
• 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 14 assists and is second with 22 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 and Yale
• 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 25 career goals on 55 career shots (.455)
• 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
• has a .629 save percentage (44 saves, 26 goals-against) since Chad Wiedmaier returned; had a .455 save percentage prior to that
• set a career high with 17 saves against Brown last week
• made 12 second-half saves against Brown, including eight in the fourth quarter
• made 10 saves while allowing two goals in the second half against Yale
• 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
• member of United States U19 team that won 2008 World Championship in Vancouver
Jeff Froccaro #18
• has 11 goals and was second-fastest Princeton freshman to reach double figures, behind only teammate Mike Chanenchuk
• scored the game-winning goal against Yale with 37 seconds left and the game-winner in overtime against Penn in the game before
• 10 of his 11 goals have come in the second half or overtime
• has a team-best .393 shooting percentage
• has won 55 of 108 face-offs
• is 2 for 2 on overtime face-offs (vs. Johns Hopkins, 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 was 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
• 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
• had an assist against Yale
• 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
• has five caused turnovers
• 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 25 of 48 face-offs (team-best .521)
• 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 Syracuse
• had two assists against North Carolina
• had two assists against Brown
• 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
• 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 two goals against Yale and Brown
• 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
• leads team with 18 goals and 26 points
• ranks 24th all-time at Princeton with 72 career goals
• needs one to tie Hall-of-Famer Kevin Lowe for 23rd and six to move into 18th place
• has 17 career assists, two of which have come in overtime (last year against Penn, this year against Hopkins) and another that came on the game-winning goal with 37 seconds left in regulation against Yale
• had three goals and two assists against Yale
• 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 two goals against Brown
• 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
• 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 the next six games
• playing as second longstick middie with John Cunningham since Chad Wiedmaier's return
• second with nine caused turnovers
• had two caused turnovers against Penn and Syracuse
• 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
Tyler Moni #27
• moved from second offensive midfield to defensive shortstick for the Penn game
• 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 a goal against Brown
• had two career goals prior to this season
• had two goals and an assist last year
Peter Smyth #26
• one of top two shortstick defensive middies
• had first career points with a goal and assist against Hofstra
• won three of eight face-offs against Hopkins while playing as shortstick D middie as well
• is 19 for 43 on face-offs
• father Francis played lacrosse at Princeton, graduating in 1982
Chris White #29
• scored first career goal in the win over Brown
• is playing on second midfield unit
Chad Wiedmaier #9
• preseason first-team All-America by Inside Lacrosse
• missed first six games of the season after having off-season knee surgery that revealed more damage than originally thought
• returned for game against Yale
• held Yale's leading scorer Matt Gibson without a point while he was on the field and caused a turnover on Gibson in final five seconds to preserve the win
• held Brown All-America Thomas Muldoon to one goal while causing two turnovers; goal came on a fastbreak after a face-off win
• named to Inside Lacrosse Team of the Week after Brown game
• had three caused turnovers against Syracuse
• 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)
YALE (W, 7-6)
GOALS - J. McBride 3, C. McBride 2, Engelke 1, Froccaro 1
ASSISTS - J. McBride 2, Engelke 1, Grossman 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:00 min, 6 goals-against, 15 saves)
BROWN (W, 9-7)
GOALS - J. McBride 2, C. McBride 2, Moni 1, Cunningham 1, Capretta 1, White 1, Barnes 1
ASSISTS - MacKenzie 2, Engelke 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:00 min, 7 goals-against, 17 saves)
SYRACUSE (L, 13-4)
GOALS - Chanenchuk 2, MacKenzie 1, Sonnenfeldt 1
ASSISTS - J. McBride 2, Engelke 1
GOALIE - Fiorito (60:00 min, 13 goals-against, 12 saves)
Career Scoring
Player G-A-Pts
14 Jack McBride 72-17-89
2 Scott MacKenzie 22-33-55
22 Rob Engelke 26-23-49
3 Chris McBride 34-12-46
13 Mike Chanenchuk 16-5-21
18 Jeff Froccaro 11-1-12
27 Tyler Moni 9-2-11
31 Paul Barnes 6-0-6
8 Mike Grossman 2-3-5
3 John Cunningham 3-1-4
11 Ryan Morrell 2-1-3
21 Connor Reilly 2-1-3
1 Alex Capretta 2-0-2
43 Forest Sonnenfeldt 2-0-2
26 Peter Smyth 1-1-2
9 Chad Wiedmaier 1-1-2
5 Jimmy Davis 0-2-2
47 Cliff Larkin 1-0-1
29 Chris White 1-0-1
24 David Marshall 0-1-1
7 Tucker Shanley 1-0-1
36 Derek Styer 1-0-1
37 Jeremy Hirsch 0-1-1
Princeton vs. Rutgers
The site Class of 1952 Stadium • Princeton, N.J.
The date Tuesday, April 13, 2010 • 7:00 p.m.
Radio/TV WPRB FM 103.3; goprincetontigers.com/Verizon Fios 1
The records Princeton: 7-2 (3-0 Ivy League)
Rutgers: 5-4 (1-1 Big East)
The coaches Princeton: Chris Bates
first season at Princeton, 7-2/11th overall, 77-73
Rutgers: Jim Stagnitta
ninth season at Rutgers, 51-69/21st overall, 187-111
The series Princeton leads 55-29-3
Last meeting Princeton defeated Rutgers 13-6 • March 24, 2009