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Charlie Durbin and the Tigers are at Rutgers Wednesday night.
Photo by: Robert Goldstein
A Day Later, No. 15 Princeton Heads To No. 5 Rutgers In 95th Meeting For Meistrell Cup
March 14, 2017 | Men's Lacrosse
PRINCETON VS. RUTGERS
Wednesday, March 15, 2017 • 7 p.m. • Piscataway, N.J.
High Point Solutions Stadium
BTN2GO (subscription required)
Live Stats
Listen Live
Rutgers website
Princeton Probable Starters
Career Highs
Career Scoring/Pronunciations
The first road trip of the season for the Princeton men's lacrosse team was supposed to be its easiest. Maybe a little traffic on Route 1, but that's about it.
Instead, the snow/ice/sleet/rain that pelted the area Tuesday forced a 24-hour postponement of the 95th meeting between the Tigers and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, which will now be Wednesday in Piscataway.
Besides the weather delay, the 2017 edition of the rivalry will mark the first time since 2004 that the teams played when both are nationally ranked (Princeton and Rutgers also played in the 2004 NCAA tournament after both finished the season ranked). Rutgers is fifth in both polls, and Princeton is 15th in one (coaches) and 16th in the other (media). The teams played when both were ranked six other times between 1990 and 2004 and pretty much every year in the 1970s and into the 1980s.
Rutgers last played Friday night, when it moved to 6-0 with a convincing 17-4 win over Stony Brook. Princeton's last game was last Tuesday night, when the Tigers defeated Quinnipiac 17-13 to go to 4-1.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton opened its season with five games in 17 days, all of which were at home. It was the second time in program history that the Tigers opened the season with five straight home games (1982 was the other time).
From this point forward, Princeton will play nine more regular season games, of which six will be on the road.
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Princeton defensive coordinator Jesse Bernhardt is in his first year with the Tigers after spending the last two seasons coaching at Rutgers.
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Princeton leads the all-time series 62-29-3 and has won 28 of the last 29 meetings.
The first men's lacrosse game in Princeton history was played in 1881. Rutgers would play its first game six years later. Both schools decided to discontinue the sport several years later and in fact both did, as Rutgers dropped its team in 1889 and Princeton gave up on lacrosse a little after that, in 1893.
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, and the winner of the Princeton-Rutgers game each year wins the Meistrell Cup.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton ranks second in Division I in shooting percentage at .391.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Austin Sims enters the game with a chance to do something that no other player in Princeton men's lacrosse history has ever done.
Sims enters this game having scored six goals in each of his last two. No Princeton player has ever had at least six goals in three straight games.
The last Princeton player with at least six goals in consecutive games was Jesse Hubbard, who did it on two separate occasions in 1996. Since then, eight Princeton players have had at least six goals in a game - Chris Massey, Jason Doneger, Lorne Smith, B.J. Prager, Jack McBride, Kip Orban, Jake Froccaro and Mike MacDonald.
Sims, who did not play in Princeton's lone loss this year, ranks third in Division I in goals per game. He also has scored 14 goals on just 27 shots, giving him a .529 shooting percentage that is eighth in D1.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Michael Sowers leads Princeton in assists (15) and points (26), and he has at least four points in every game to date. Sowers, the leading scorer for the U.S. team at the U19 World Championships last summer, has been a two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Sowers, through just five games, ranks fifth among Princeton freshmen for assists for the entire season. Sowers, with two more, would tie Ryan Ambler and Jon Hess for third with 17 and then would trail only Kevin Lowe (43) and Ryan Boyle (37).
Sowers also ranks 10th in points by a freshman. With 10 more, he would move to third, behind only Lowe (55) and Boyle (53). Sowers is on pace to finish the regular season with 73 points.
Sowers currently ranks fourth in Division I in assists per game and sixth in Division I in points per game.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Both Princeton and Rutgers are led in scoring by freshen. Princeton's Michel Sowers has 11 goals and 15 assists for a team-best 26 points. Rutgers' Kieran Mullins has a team-best 21 points (12 goals, nine assists).
Both players are two-time league Rookies of the Week so far this season.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton defeated Rutgers 10-7 a year ago on Sherrerd Field. Tyler Blaisdell made 14 saves for Princeton.
Blaisdell has a .622 save percentage for the season, which leads the Ivy League and is sixth in Division I.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Gavin McBride leads Princeton with 62 career goals and 90 career points. He has the fifth-longest streak in Division I in consecutive games with at least one goal, at 14.
McBride also has at least one point in 33 straight games, every game since the start of his sophomore year.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton has only one player in double figures in ground balls, and that's Zach Currier. While no other player on the team has more than nine, Currier enters the game with 40.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton leads the Ivy League and is seventh in Division I in man up offense, at .556 (10 for 18). Rutgers, on the other hand, is fourth in Division I, having allowed three man-up goals in 18 opportunities.
Rutgers ranks third in Division I scoring defense, allowing just 6.83 goals per game.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Shortstick defensive midfielder Mike Morean has three goals in the last two games after not having any for his career prior. Charlie Durbin has six goals in his last two games after having three for his career prior to that.
Â
Wednesday, March 15, 2017 • 7 p.m. • Piscataway, N.J.
High Point Solutions Stadium
BTN2GO (subscription required)
Live Stats
Listen Live
Rutgers website
Princeton Probable Starters
Career Highs
Career Scoring/Pronunciations
The first road trip of the season for the Princeton men's lacrosse team was supposed to be its easiest. Maybe a little traffic on Route 1, but that's about it.
Instead, the snow/ice/sleet/rain that pelted the area Tuesday forced a 24-hour postponement of the 95th meeting between the Tigers and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, which will now be Wednesday in Piscataway.
Besides the weather delay, the 2017 edition of the rivalry will mark the first time since 2004 that the teams played when both are nationally ranked (Princeton and Rutgers also played in the 2004 NCAA tournament after both finished the season ranked). Rutgers is fifth in both polls, and Princeton is 15th in one (coaches) and 16th in the other (media). The teams played when both were ranked six other times between 1990 and 2004 and pretty much every year in the 1970s and into the 1980s.
Rutgers last played Friday night, when it moved to 6-0 with a convincing 17-4 win over Stony Brook. Princeton's last game was last Tuesday night, when the Tigers defeated Quinnipiac 17-13 to go to 4-1.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton opened its season with five games in 17 days, all of which were at home. It was the second time in program history that the Tigers opened the season with five straight home games (1982 was the other time).
From this point forward, Princeton will play nine more regular season games, of which six will be on the road.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton defensive coordinator Jesse Bernhardt is in his first year with the Tigers after spending the last two seasons coaching at Rutgers.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton leads the all-time series 62-29-3 and has won 28 of the last 29 meetings.
The first men's lacrosse game in Princeton history was played in 1881. Rutgers would play its first game six years later. Both schools decided to discontinue the sport several years later and in fact both did, as Rutgers dropped its team in 1889 and Princeton gave up on lacrosse a little after that, in 1893.
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, and the winner of the Princeton-Rutgers game each year wins the Meistrell Cup.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton ranks second in Division I in shooting percentage at .391.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Austin Sims enters the game with a chance to do something that no other player in Princeton men's lacrosse history has ever done.
Sims enters this game having scored six goals in each of his last two. No Princeton player has ever had at least six goals in three straight games.
The last Princeton player with at least six goals in consecutive games was Jesse Hubbard, who did it on two separate occasions in 1996. Since then, eight Princeton players have had at least six goals in a game - Chris Massey, Jason Doneger, Lorne Smith, B.J. Prager, Jack McBride, Kip Orban, Jake Froccaro and Mike MacDonald.
Sims, who did not play in Princeton's lone loss this year, ranks third in Division I in goals per game. He also has scored 14 goals on just 27 shots, giving him a .529 shooting percentage that is eighth in D1.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Michael Sowers leads Princeton in assists (15) and points (26), and he has at least four points in every game to date. Sowers, the leading scorer for the U.S. team at the U19 World Championships last summer, has been a two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Sowers, through just five games, ranks fifth among Princeton freshmen for assists for the entire season. Sowers, with two more, would tie Ryan Ambler and Jon Hess for third with 17 and then would trail only Kevin Lowe (43) and Ryan Boyle (37).
Sowers also ranks 10th in points by a freshman. With 10 more, he would move to third, behind only Lowe (55) and Boyle (53). Sowers is on pace to finish the regular season with 73 points.
Sowers currently ranks fourth in Division I in assists per game and sixth in Division I in points per game.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Both Princeton and Rutgers are led in scoring by freshen. Princeton's Michel Sowers has 11 goals and 15 assists for a team-best 26 points. Rutgers' Kieran Mullins has a team-best 21 points (12 goals, nine assists).
Both players are two-time league Rookies of the Week so far this season.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton defeated Rutgers 10-7 a year ago on Sherrerd Field. Tyler Blaisdell made 14 saves for Princeton.
Blaisdell has a .622 save percentage for the season, which leads the Ivy League and is sixth in Division I.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Gavin McBride leads Princeton with 62 career goals and 90 career points. He has the fifth-longest streak in Division I in consecutive games with at least one goal, at 14.
McBride also has at least one point in 33 straight games, every game since the start of his sophomore year.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton has only one player in double figures in ground balls, and that's Zach Currier. While no other player on the team has more than nine, Currier enters the game with 40.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Princeton leads the Ivy League and is seventh in Division I in man up offense, at .556 (10 for 18). Rutgers, on the other hand, is fourth in Division I, having allowed three man-up goals in 18 opportunities.
Rutgers ranks third in Division I scoring defense, allowing just 6.83 goals per game.
*Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *Â Â Â Â Â Â Â *
Shortstick defensive midfielder Mike Morean has three goals in the last two games after not having any for his career prior. Charlie Durbin has six goals in his last two games after having three for his career prior to that.
Â
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