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Princeton Opens 2016 Season By Hosting NJIT - And Admission Is Free
February 18, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse
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The 2016 Princeton men's lacrosse season begins with something that the Tigers haven't done in 31 years and only done once in 70 years.
They'll play a team from New Jersey that isn't Rutgers.
Well, 31 years. Or two weeks, dependingon if you count the scrimmage against Monmouth from Feb. 6.
The point is that the number of Division I men's lacrosse teams in New Jersey has doubled in recent years, from Princeton and Rutgers to now those two plus Monmouth and NJIT.
Princeton's last in-state non-Rutgers oponent was FDU-Madison, whom the Tigers played in 1985. Before that, the last New Jersey opponent was Stevens Tech, back in 1946.
Princeton's rivalry with Stevens actually dates back to1886, two years before Princeton played Rutgers for the first time. And Stevens was the last team Princeton played in 1893 before dropping the sport until 1921. A year earlier, in 1892, Princeton played a game against Lawrenceville.
Princeton and Stevens played four times in the 1920s and then three times in the 1940s, and that was that. Meanwhile, the Princeton-Rutgers series has been an annual event since 1921, other than 1944 and 1945.
NJIT is the newcomer in New Jersey, having started a program a year ago. The Highlanders are still looking for their first win, but they could look to Monmouth, a third-year program, for inspiration - the Hawks were winless in Year 1 and then 6-8 in Year 2.
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It's hard to say how many returning starters Princeton has for the 2016 season.
If you're going by the last game of the 2015 season and seeing how many players will be starting the 2016 opener in the same position, then the answer is four - Ryan Ambler on attack, Bear Goldstein and Alistair Berven on defense and Tyler Blaisdell in goal.
That doesn't really tell the story.
Two starting middies in that game, Gavin McBride and Riley Thompson, will be starting on attack this year. Zach Currier, who technically wasn't a starter in the last game a year ago because he wasn't on the first offensive midfield, played more in that game than any other middie on either team.
In addition, Sam Gravitte, who will probably start on D to start this year, was the longstick middie a year ago.
And then there are the returning players on D. Will Reynolds and Mark Strabo, major impact players on defense from the first day they arrived at Princeton, both missed the final 14 games a year ago after being injured in the opener. Both are back this year.
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NJIT assistant coach Brad Conlon was an assistant at Princeton in 2014.
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NJIT has 35 players on its roster.
Of those 35, there are 20 freshmen, 15 sophomores, two juniors and no seniors.
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Princeton graduated Mike MacDonald (48G, 30A, school-record 78 points in 2015) and Kip Orban (45 goals in 2015, school-record for middies).
MacDonald and Orban combined for 93 of Princeton's 180 goals last year, or 52%.
Princeton's leading returning goal scorer is Gavin McBride, who scored 24 a year ago. Princeton's leading returner in assists and points is Ryan Ambler, who had 29 assists and 51 points.
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Gavin McBride was the only Princeton player with at least one point in every game last year. He also enters 2016 with one goal in six straight games, the longest current streak by a Princeton player. McBride started every game a year ago in the midfield but will play attack this season.
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Princeton played 15 games a year ago, of which five were at home and 10 were away (the last two, in the Ivy League tournament, were on a neutral site).
This season, Princeton has 13 regular-season games, of which eight are home and five are away.
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NJIT is playing its third game of the season, after having played Lehigh and then Vermont Tuesday, a 19-5 loss.
The Highlanders were tied with UVM at 5-5 at the half.
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Ryan Ambler enters his senior year with 122 career points, leaving him in 24th place all-time at Princeton.
He needs four points to tie Kip Orban for 23rd place, and with six points he'd move into 20th place.
Should Ambler match his total of 51 points from last year, he'd move up to 10th place.
Ambler enters his senior year with 57 goals and 65 assists, leaving him in 13th place all-time at Princeton in assists.
With three more goals, he'd become the 11th player in program history with at least 60 career goals and 60 career assists. Beyond that, there have been six 70-70 players in program history.
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Princeton has four preseason All-Americas, according to Face-Off Yearbook.
Zach Currier was a second-team selection, while Ryan Ambler, Bear Goldstein and Gavin McBride were all honorable mention selections.
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Zach Currier had 81 ground balls in 2015, the most by a Princeton player since James Mitchell had 95 in 1997.
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Princeton's probable lineup for the NJIT game includes five freshmen.
Carter Flaig figures to be the lone starter, as he will probalby play in the first midfield. Flaig is the all-time leading scorer at St. Paul's in Baltimore.
Dawson McKenzie and Emmet Cordrey will play in the second midfield group, and Mike Morean and Strib Walker will play as shortstick defensive midfielders.
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Tyler Blaisdell started the final six games in goal a year ago as a freshman. Matt O'Connor, a senior, has started 16 games in his career.
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Austin deButts, a shortstick defensive midfielder, led Princeton in caused turnovers a year ago with 18. Zach Currier, another shortstick, was second with 17.
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Princeton has four captains this season: Ryan Ambler, Bear Goldstein, Matt O'Connor and Austin deButts.
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Steve Grossi joined the Princeton staff as its defensive coordinator this past off-season. He is the fourth D coordinator in four years, after Greg Raymond (left to become the head coach at Hobart), John Walker (had to give up coaching due to a back injury) and Dyland Sheridan (left to become the head coach at Cleveland State).
Grossi came to Princeton from St. Joe's, where his defense ranked fifth in Division I in scoring defense. The Hawks were also ranked first in man-down defense, allowing 12 goals in 60 chances (.200).
Princeton allowed 33 extra-man goals in 64 chances a year ago (.516).