Princeton University Athletics
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Princeton Faces Hoyas, UVa At Play For Parkinson's
October 14, 2011 | Men's Lacrosse
Going back a little more than a year, the Princeton University men's lacrosse team played Virginia to an even game in the first Play For Parkinson's fall event.
So what happened? Princeton went on to lose 16 players to injury during a tough 2011 season, while UVa went on to win the NCAA championship.
Princeton and Virginia meet again this weekend in the second Play For Parkinson's, as two of the 12 teams competing at Episcopal Academy in Alexandria, Va.
The men's portion of the event will be held Saturday, and Princeton takeson Georgetown at 11 a.m. and Virginia at 1 p.m. The other teams competing are Army, Penn State and Johns Hopkins.
Six women's teams will compete Sunday on the second day of the event, though Princeton will not be among the participants.
The ProjectSpark Foundation was founded by Christian Cook and his sister Lauren after their mother Diane was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2008. Lauren played lacrosse at Davidson, while Christian is a 1998 Princeton grad and one of the great defensemen in school history.
Christian Cook was a first-team All-America and the winner of the William Schmeisser Award as the top defenseman in Division I. He was a two-time first-team All-Ivy League selection, and he helped Princeton win the NCAA championship in 1996, 1997 and 1998. No team has been able to win three straight NCAA titles since.
No team will match Princeton's feat in the 2012 season, and only UVa carries the distinction of being the defending champion.
In the fall of 2011, though, every team is 0-0, and Princeton is quite happy to turn the page on its season of a year ago, when the promise of the fall was wiped away by one season-ending injury after another.
The 2012 Tigers will be led by its three senior defensive tri-captains - goalie Tyler Fiorito, defenseman Chad Wiedmaier and longstick midfielder John Cunningham. Fiorito has started every game of his career, while Wiedmaier would have had he not been hurt for the first half of his sophomore year. Cunningham has played every game of his career except for when he was injured his freshman year.
Together, they are as formidible combination of those three positions as there is in college lacrosse.
Princeton also returns Ivy League Rookie of the Year Tom Schreiber, who led the team in goals and assists last year.
Because of all the injuries, Princeton had 18 different players start at least one game, and only three players - Fiorito, Wiedmaier and midfielder Jeff Froccaro - started every game.