Princeton Travels To Hopkins For 81st Meeting Between Lax Giants

The Princeton men's lacrosse Class of 2010 was the first since the Class of 1934 - who would be closing in on 100 years old - to graduate without having done something that basically every Princeton player for generations took for granted.

The Class of 2010 went all four years at Princeton and never once played a game at Homewood Field, the home site for the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.

Oh, sure, Princeton and Johns Hopkins met every one of the four years that the Class of 2010 was in school. In fact, Princeton and Hopkins have met every year since 1937, except for the World War II season of 1944.

For the last four years, though, the Princeton-Johns Hopkins game has been played as part of the Face-Off Classic, at M&T Bank Stadium. And while the games drew close to 80,000 total in four years, there was something missing without having the Princeton-Hopkins game on the two campuses.

After all, Homewood Field is the most famous venue in lacrosse, and the largest crowd in Class of 1952 Stadium history - 6,325 - attended the last game between the two played there, back in 2005.

And so the 81st meeting between Princeton and Hopkins is back on campus.

* * *

The four meetings between Princeton and Johns Hopkins at the Face-Off Classic produced rather remarkable results.

Princeton and Hopkins split the four games, with each winning once in overtime and once in a blowout.

For the four games combined, Princeton outscored Hopkins 40-39.

The first game went two overtimes before Paul Rabil scored for a 7-6 JHU win, and the Blue Jays won 14-9 in 2008 in a game that they led 5-0 at the end of the first quarter, 8-0 before Princeton scored, 10-1 at the half and 11-1 early in the third quarter.

Princeton returned the favor in 2009 with a 14-8 win. Princeton lead 6-1 after the first quarter and 9-1 midway through the second quarter.

The final game, played a year ago, went to overtime when Michael Kimmel tied it with 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Jeff Froccaro won the face-off for Princeton, and Scott MacKenzie won it after a cross-crease feed from Jack McBride on the first possession.

* * *

Princeton and Johns Hopkins first met on May 17, 1890, in a 3-2 Tiger win. Princeton lost to Lehigh one week later and then suspended the sport due to "concerns of losing to schools that could not field proper football teams." Princeton played one game in 1891 and one in game in 1893 and then did not play against until 1921.

Princeton has played Johns Hopkins at least once every year since 1937, except for the World War II-shortened season of 1944.

Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series against Princeton 54-26, though Princeton is 3-0 against Hopkins in the NCAA tournament.

Between 1957 and the end of the 1990 regular season, Princeton was 1-33 against the Blue Jays, with the only win in that stretch a 7-1 win in 1966.

Princeton lost to Johns Hopkins 20-8 in the 1990 season-opener, but the series started to go in a different direction when the teams met again that year, in Princeton's first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament.

The Tigers won that game 9-8 on Mark Ames' goal with 1:44 to go, after Justin Tortolani (now a surgeon affiliated with Johns Hopkins) scored five goals. Among the notables for Hopkins that day: Current Hofstra coach Seth Tierney had two assists, and ESPN's Quint Kessenich made 15 saves.

Beginning with that game, Princeton is 14-9 in its last 23 meetings against the Blue Jays.

* * *

Princeton opened the 2011 season with an 11-9 loss at Hofstra last Saturday.

Princeton had five players make their first career start in that game:

Luke Armour, attack - two assists, the first two of his career; he had one career point - a goal in the Ivy tournament final win over Cornell - last year as a freshman

Forest Sonnenfeldt, attack - team-best three goals

Tom Schreiber, midfield - two goals in first college game, both in the first five minutes, including one the first time he touched the ball

Tyler Moni, midfield - technically made his first career start on the first midfield unit, though he was one of first two shortstick defensive middies for the second half of last year

Rob Castelo, defense - had a caused turnover and ground ball in the game after playing either longstick or shortstick defensive midfield in a backup role as a freshman last year

* * *

There were 15 goals scored in the first half of Princeton's season opener against Hofstra and then only five scored in the second half.

Princeton scored four times in the first 7:27 of the game and six times in the first 16:37 but then scored only three more in the final 43:23.

Princeton won 6 of 22 face-offs in the game, which led to a huge possession advantage for the Pride. Hofstra was also 4 for 4 on extra man opportunities in the first half.

* * *

Princeton has four players who were preseason All-Americas by Inside Lacrosse.

Defenseman Chad Wiedmaier was a first-team selection, while goalie Tyler Fiorito and attackman Jack McBride were second-team picks. Longstick midfielder John Cunningham was a third-team selection.

McBride was also selected by Denver in the Major League Lacrosse draft.

* * *

Jack McBride has 90 goals and 25 assists for 115 career points. He currently stands 21st all-time at Princeton in points and 15th in goals scored.

McBride has scored eight goals in three games against Hopkins, including seven in the last two years (four in 2009, three last year).

McBride scored exactly 35 goals each of the last two seasons; repeating that would leave him in fourth place all-time in goals.

He is four goals away from a four-way tie for 12th place, along with David Tickner, Bill Chaires and Lorne Smith, and 10 goals away from becoming the ninth player in school history with at least 100.

Jesse Hubbard is Princeton's career leader with 163 goals.

McBride is 12 points away from moving into the top 20, at which point he would be 13 away from the top 15.

* * *

Forest Sonnenfeldt scored four goals as a freshman a year ago. He scored three in the first game of his sophomore year last week against Hofstra.

Sonnenfeldt, who stands 6-6 and weighs 250 pounds, is in his second experience playing in the Ivy League, as he did so in high school as well at the Fieldston School in New York City. As a senior, he scored 95 goals and had 46 assists, which ran his career totals on the prep level to 287 goals and 145 assists.

Sonnenfeldt had a two-goal game against Dartmouth last year, as well as goals against Syracuse and Manhattan, in a game not far from Fieldston.

* * *

Tom Schreiber scored twice in the first 4:55 of his first collegiate game, which was played 4.4 miles from his house on Long Island.

Schreiber, the No. 2 incoming freshman this year according to Inside Lacrosse, was the only Princeton freshman to play against Hofstra. He scored 53 seconds into the game on the first time he touched the ball, and he added a second on an extra-man opportunity a few minutes later.

* * *

Jeff Froccaro scored both of his goals against Hofstra in the second half. For his career, Froccaro has now scored 17 goals, of which 13 have come either in the second half or in overtime.

Froccaro had four goals last year against Hopkins, three of which were in the second half.

* * *

Princeton had one captain a year ago (Jeremy Hirsch). This time around, Princeton has four: Chris McBride, Jack McBride, Tyler Moni and John Cunningham.

Cunningham is the first Princeton junior to be a captain since Jason Doneger in 2005.

* * *

What Can You Say About ...

Luke Armour #16

• starting on attack

• had two assists against Hofstra

• played in last five games of freshman year after playing in one of the first 11

• scored first career goal in Ivy final against Cornell, giving Princeton its first goal of the day

Alex Capretta #1

• missed Hofstra game due to injury

• can play attack or midfield

• scored four goals a year ago, including back-to-back games against Cornell in the regular-season finale and Yale in the Ivy tournament

Rob Castelo #4

• starting on close defense

• had one caused turnover and one ground ball against Hofstra

• played longstick midfield behind John Cunningham a year ago

• had one caused turnover and one ground ball

John Cunningham #3

• preseason third-team All-America selection by Inside Lacrosse

• 2010 honorable mention All-Ivy League selection

• team captain, making him the first junior captain since Jason Doneger in 2005

• had one caused turnover and one ground ball against Hofstra

• scored five goals last season, most ever by a Tiger longstick in a season

• has six career goals, two of which have been assisted on by another longstick, making them the only two goals in the last 23 years at Princeton that were longstick-to-longstick

• started first six games a year ago on defense before moving back to natural position of longstick midfielder

• led team with 54 ground balls

• had 13 caused turnovers

• had a goal in each game against against Cornell

• had six ground balls and two caused turnovers against Hofstra in 2010

Long Ellis #41

• starting on close defense for second year

• second-team All-Ivy League selection in 2010

• led team with 22 caused turnovers despite missing two games due to injury

• named to the Ivy League tournament all-tournament team

Mark Feild #25

• had a goal and assist against Hofstra on the extra-man unit

• two points against Hofstra were the first of his career

• has been injured most of his first two seasons

Tyler Fiorito #6

• 2011 preseason second-team All-America

• made 15 saves against Hofstra

• 2010 first-team All-Ivy League selection

• Most Valuable Player of the first Ivy League tournament

• assist against Rutgers last year on a 70-yard pass to Jack McBride was one of two by a Princeton goalie in the last 30 years (Alex Hewit, 2007)

• honorable mention All-America each of his first two years and second-team All-Ivy League last year as a freshman

• started every game of his career

Jeff Froccaro #18

• had two goals against Hofstra; has five against Hofstra in two games

• had four goals against Hopkins a year ago and won the face-off to start overtime

• 2010 second-team All-Ivy League selection

• had 15 goals and seven assists as a freshman

• also won 90 of 177 face-offs

• won face-off to start overtime against both Penn and Hopkins last year; Princeton won both without ever giving up possession

Mike Grossman #8

• playing on the second midfield

• had a goal against Yale in Ivy semifinal

• has started on attack and midfield in his career

Bobby Lucas #17

• won 1 of 2 face-offs against Hofstra and played shortstick defensive middie

• won 25 of 48 face-offs (.521) before missing second half of last season due to a back injury

Chris McBride #15

• senior captain

• missed Hofstra game due to injury

• has started most of his career on attack, though he has played some midfield

• had 16 goals and eight assists (24 points) a year ago; had 18 goals and six assists (24 points) in 2009

• his father is Jack McBride's father's brother; his mother is Jack McBride's mother's first cousin

Jack McBride #14

• senior captain

• preseason second-team All-America

• selected by Denver with the 27th pick of the Major League Lacrosse draft

• goal against Hofstra was the 90th of his career

• a first-team All-Ivy League selection each of the last two years

• honorable mention All-America last year; second-team All-America in 2009

• first Princeton player with back-to-back seasons of at least 30 goals since Jason Doneger in 2003 and 2004

• 15th all-time at Princeton with 90 goals; needs four goals to move into a four-way tie for 12th

• has 115 career points, 21st best all-time at Princeton; needs 12 points to tie for 20th

• had two goals and three assists against Notre Dame in NCAA tournament

• scored game-winning goal in overtime in the Ivy League final agains Cornell

• had six goals and one assist in the Ivy tournament to earn all-tournament team honors

• has three career overtime points (goal against Cornell, assists last year against Penn, this year against Hopkins)

• his father is Chris McBride's father's brother; his mother is Chris McBride's mother's first cousin

Jonathan Meyers #28

• can play close defense or longstick midfield

• had one caused turnover and one ground ball against Hofstra as second longstick midfielder

• played as second longstick middie with John Cunningham after Chad Wiedmaier's return until starting on defense against Rutgers

• had 11 caused turnovers a year gao

• recruited for football by schools such as Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma

Tyler Moni #27

• senior captain

• playing on the first offensive midfield unit

• moved from second offensive midfield to defensive shortstick for the Penn game last year

• had two goals against both Hofstra and against Hopkins as an offensive middie in 2010

• had 30 ground balls and four caused turnovers

• had a goal against Brown and Harvard as a defensive middie

• 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

Tom Schreiber #22

• had two goals in the first five minutes against Hofstra, including first collegiate goal less than five seconds after he first touched the ball

• No. 2 incoming freshman according to Inside Lacrosse

• scored more than 200 points in high school career

• father Doug, who played at Maryland and won an NCAA title there in 1973 and then the 1974 World Championship with the U.S., is a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame

Tucker Shanley #7

• playing on the second midfield

• had a goal against Dartmouth and Manhattan

Peter Smyth #26

• one of top shortstick defensive middies

• was also 57 for 114 on face-offs and had two goals and four assists a year ago

• won 11 of 21 face-offs against Cornell in Ivy final; won 8 of final 13 after winning 3 of first 8

• father Fran played lacrosse at Princeton, graduating in 1982

Forest Sonnenfeldt #2

• had team-best three goals against Hofstra in first collegiate start

• played mostly on extra-man unit a year ago

• had four goals and an assist