Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Princeton Travels To Providence To Take On No. 3 Brown
March 31, 2016 | Men's Lacrosse
PRINCETON AT BROWN
STEVENSON FIELD • PROVIDENCE, R.I.
SATURDAY, APRIL 2 • 1 p.m.
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The team that the Princeton men's lacrosse team lost to by a single goal last weekend is now ranked No. 1 in the country. The team that Princeton plays this weekend might be better.
Princeton heads to the back end of a two-game stretch where the Tigers face the last two remaining unbeaten teams in Division I - with both on the road. It began last weekend with an 11-10 loss at Yale, who moved up to No. 1 in both polls after Denver lost.
This weekend's challenge is Brown, who comes in at 7-0 after its 19-8 pasting of Villanova Tuesday. The Bears are ranked third this week, behind Yale and Notre Dame.
A week ago, Princeton's challenge was the No. 1-ranked scoring defense team in the country. This week, it's the No. 1-ranked scoring offense team in the country.
Brown averages 17.5 7 goals per game, nearly three more than the second-best team in Division I. The Bears have scored at least 11 goals in every game and at least 15 in six of seven.
One week after becoming the first team to reach double figures against Yale, Princeton will now look to be the first team to hold Brown below 10.
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Princeton and Brown are two of the best shooting teams in the country in terms of team percentage.
Brown enters the game ranked second in Division I at .382. Princeton is seventh at .348.
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The Princeton-Brown series has not been famous for its high-scoring games.
In fact, only three times in the last 33 years have both teams reached double figures in the Princeton-Brown game - in 1991, 2002 and 2014.
The average score of the last 12 Princeton-Brown games has been 9.7-5.8.
Brown and Princeton went into last year's game averaging nearly 30 goals per game between them and then played a 10-8 game, which Brown won on Sherrerd Field. Princeton goalie Eric Sanschagrin and Brown goalie Jack Kelly each made 15 saves in that game to keep the score down, as the teams did combine for 96 shots.
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Brown's Dylan Molloy, who set the school record with 62 goals a year ago, shot 0 for 12 against Princeton a year ago. Princeton's Kip Orban, who set the Princeton record for goals by a midfielder in a season with 45, shot 0 for 10 against Brown a year ago.
Henry Blynn led Brown with four goals, and Brendan Caputo had three. Princeton was led by Mike MacDonald's three, and four players on this year's team - Zach Currier, Gavin McBride, Sean Connors, Adam Hardej - had one each.
Brown's Will Gural won 12 of 21 face-offs.
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Since its opener against NJIT, all six of Princeton's opponents have been ranked at some point this season, including four who have been ranked in the top 10. Brown will be the seventh ranked team and fifth top 10 Princeton has faced.
Up next? Stony Brook, who is ranked 12th this week in both polls.
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Princeton leads the all-time series with Brown 31-23. The teams did not play until the 1964 season, which was 11 years after the first Princeton-Dartmouth game, more than 40 years after the first games for Princeton against both Cornell and Penn and more than 80 years after the first Princeton games against Harvard and Yale.
Princeton and Brown have played two games in two different seasons.
The teams met in the regular season and the Ivy League tournament in 2012 and met in the regular season and NCAA tournament semifinals in 1994. Brown won the regular season game - the Ivy title. Princeton won the rematch and then won the second of its six NCAA titles.
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Princeton has scored exactly 10 goals in each of its last three games and four of its seven games this season.
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Each of the seven regular-season games between Princeton and Yale since Chris Bates became head coach have been decided by one goal.
Of the first six Princeton-Brown regular-season games, two have been decided by one goal, including an 11-10 Brown win two years ago in the last game the two have played on Stevenson Field.
Princeton played two games on Stevenson Field last year, defeating Cornell and losing to Yale in the Ivy League tournament. That Yale game, of course, was a one-goal game. In fact, the last three Princeton-Yale games have all been 11-10 games, which was also the score of the last Princeton-Brown game in Providence.
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Zach Currier is the only player in Division I to be in the top 10 in both ground balls per game and caused turnovers per game. He also leads all D1 shortsticks in caused turnovers per game.
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Austin Sims had no goals last year as a freshman, five goals in the first five games this season and now seven goals in the last two games. Sims, a member of the U.S. U-19 team for this summer's World Championships, had a career high four goals against Yale last week, one week after a career high three against Penn.
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Ryan Ambler is one goal away from becoming the seventh player in program history with at least 70 career goals and 70 career assists. With one goal and two assists, he'd become the sixth player with at least 70 career goals and 80 career assists.
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Gavin McBride had no goals and no assists as a freshman. Since then he's had at least one point in all 22 games, for a total of 33 goals and 18 assists.
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Will Reynolds moved from longstick midfield to close defense for the Yale game. Reynolds had started as a freshman at close D before moving to LSM last year, when he was injured in the season opener and missed the final 14 games. He then was an LSM for the first six games this year before moving to close D.
Sam Gravitte, who started the first six games on defense and who was the No. 1 LSM a year ago after Reynolds was hurt, moved to shortstick defensive midfield. Gravitte hadn't played with a shortstick since his sophomore year of high school.
With Reynolds on close D and Gravitte as a SSDM, Alistair Berven became the No. 1 LSM. Berven has started on defense and played LSM this season and last. Freshman Charlie Tarry became the second LSM.
Also against Yale Carter Flaig moved from midfield to make his first start on attack. Riley Thompson, who had started every game on attack, started in the midfield. Gavin McBride startedon attack as well.
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ONE LINERS
Bear Altemus – junior with a year of experience on the second midfield line who missed the first two games but returned to play against Johns Hopkins
John Alvarez – freshman backup goalie who played final 4:51 against NJIT with no saves or goals-against
Ryan Ambler - senior captain, fourth-year starter on attack, MLL draftee and Tewaaraton watchlist selection; leads team in goals (12) and assists (13) and needs one goal to become the seventh player in program history with at least 70 goals and 70 assists
Alistair Berven – veteran who can play defense or longstick midfield and has played a lot of both last year and this year
Tyler Blaisdell – had 20 saves against Johns Hopkins, making him the first Princeton goalie in 10 years to reach 20 in a game
Sam Bonafede – won 16 of 25 face-offs against Penn
Matt Brophy – cleared to return after missing first half of the season due to injury
Luke Brugger – senior who can play longstick midfield
J.T. Caputo – two-way middie who had a goal and assist against NJIT for his first two career points
Sean Connors – started the two games on attack, scoring once in each, and has played middie the rest of the time
Emmet Cordrey – freshman high school All-America who had two goals in his first collegiate game
Zach Currier – is the only player in Division I in the top 10 in caused turnovers per game and ground balls per game; leads Division I shortsticks in caused turnovers per game
Austin deButts – captain and top shortstick defensive middie; had two caused turnovers against Yale a week ago
Charlie Durbin – freshman who has faced-off and played as an offensive middie and who scored two goals in the season opener against NJIT; had first career assist against Rutgers
Alexander Fish – offensive middie who walked on a year ago
Carter Flaig – leading scorer all-time at St. Paul's; made his first career start on attack against Yale after playing middie the first six games
Braedon Gait – sophomore middie who had his first career goal against NJIT
Bear Goldstein – junior captain who is the only player on the team who has started every game of his career
Sam Gravitte – second on the team with seven caused turnovers; moved from close D, where he had started the first six games, to shortstick defensive midfield against Yale
Adam Hardej – middie who has three goals
Gavin McBride – has at least one point in 22 straight games, the longest current streak on the team
Dawson McKenzie – freshman who has five goals and two assists, including a goal last week against Yale
Greg Merrill – will miss the season due to injury
Mike Morean – freshman shortstick D middie who has also played well on the wings on face-offs
Jack O'Brien – face-off man who won the gray T-shirt with the Spartan Shield after the preseason conditioning program
Drew O'Connell – offensive middie who has worked through injuries
Matt O'Connor – senior captain who has started 16 games in goal in his career and had four saves without allowing a goal in 10:17 against NJIT
Will Reynolds – started at close D against Yale after starting on D as a freshman and then playing LSM a year ago (he missed the final 14 games due to injury) and then LSM for the first six games this year
Oliver Schmickel – freshman backup goalie who played 4:58 against NJIT
Austin Sims – sophomore who made the U.S. U-19 team; had five career goals for the first 20 games of his career and no whas seven in the last two
Mark Strabo – made his return to the starting defense against Hopkins after starting every game on D his first two years and then missing almost all of last year after getting injured in the opener
Charlie Tarry – freshman who is now the No. 2 LSM
Riley Thompson – has 17 points in seven games (8G, 9A) after having six points all of last year
Strib Walker – freshman who plays shortstick D middie and had two ground balls against NJIT
Bobby Weaver - two-way middie who was one of the top shortstick D middies a year ago; had multi-goal games against Hofstra and Rutgers and his first multi-assist game of his career with two against Yale
Dylan White – senior defenseman who is in his first year with the lacrosse team after playing four years of football
Daniel Winschuh – sees time as a longstick midfielder and on man-down D
GAME BY GAME
NJIT (W, 21-4)
GOALS - Currier 4, Thompson 3, Ambler 2, McKenzie 2, Durbin 2, Cordrey 2, Sims 1, Bonafede 1, Flaig 1, Caputo 1, Gait 1, Hardej 1
ASSISTS - Ambler 3, Currier 3, Thompson 2, McBride 1, Morean 1, Gravitte 1, deButts 1, McKenzie 1, Flaig 1, Caputo 1
GOALIES - Blaisdell (39:54 min, 3 goals-against, 3 saves),
O'Connor (10:17, 0 goals-against, 4 saves), Schmickel (4:58, 1 goal-against, 0 saves, Alvarez 4:51, 0 goals-against, 0 saves)
HOFSTRA (L, 11-10 OT)
GOALS - McBride 3, Weaver 2, Ambler 2, McKenzie 1, Thompson 1, Sims 1
ASSISTS - Ambler 4, Flaig 2, McBride 1, McKenzie 1, Thompson 1
GOALIES - Blaisdell (60 min, 11 goals-against, 6 saves)
JOHNS HOPKINS (L, 17-7)
GOALS - Sims 2, McBride 1, Thompson 1, Hardej 1, McKenzie 1, Weaver 1
ASSISTS - Ambler 2, Connors 1
GOALIES - Blaisdell (60 min, 17 goals-against, 20 saves)
MARYLAND (L, 17-5)
GOALS - Ambler 2, Sims 1, Thompson 1, Hardej 1
ASSISTS - Ambler 1, McBride 1, Currier 1
GOALIES - Blaisdell (60 min, 17 goals-against, 8 saves)
RUTGERS (W, 10-7)
GOALS - Ambler 3, Currier 2 Weaver 2, Thompson 1, McBride 1,
Connors 1
ASSISTS - Thompson 2, Durbin 1, Ambler 1, Currier 1
GOALIES - Blaisdell (60 min, 7 goals-against, 14 saves)
PENN (L, 20-10)
GOALS - Sims 3, Ambler 2, McBride 2, Thompson 1, Weaver 1,
Connors 1
ASSISTS - Sims 2, Thompson 2, Currier 2, Ambler 1, Thompson 1, Weaver 1
GOALIES - Blaisdell (60 min, 20 goals-against, 4 saves)
YALE (L, 11-10)
GOALS - Sims 4, McBride 2, Currier 2, Ambler 1, McKenzie 1
ASSISTS - Thompson 2, Weaver 2, Ambler 1, McBride 1, Flaig 1
GOALIES - Blaisdell (60 min, 11 goals-against, 5 saves)
Career Points
247 Kevin Lowe (73G, 174A) 1991-94
232 Ryan Boyle (70G, 162A) 2001-04
215 Jon Hess, (82G, 133A) 1995-98
211 Jesse Hubbard (163G, 48A) 1995-98
208 Mike MacDonald (132G, 76A) 2012-16
200 Tom Schreiber (106G, 94A)......... 2011-14
192 Chris Massey (146G, 46A) 1995-98
182 Dave Heubeck (83G, 99A) 1977-80
174 Wick Sollers (114G, 60A) 1975-77
164 Justin Tortolani (120G, 44A) 1989-82
163 Dave Tickner (94G, 69A) 1975-77
153 Gerald Ronon (97G, 56A) 1980-83
152 Peter Trombino (98G, 54A) 2004-07
147 Ryan Ambler (69G, 78A) 2013-present
147 Bo Willis (63G, 84A) 1951-53
Career Assists
174 Kevin Lowe 1991-94
162 Ryan Boyle 2001-04
133 Jon Hess 1995-98
99 Dave Heubeck 1977-80
96 Don Hahn 1982-85
94 Tom Schreiber 2011-15
89 Charles Stillwell 1982-85
84 Bo Willis 1951-53
78 Ryan Ambler 2013-present