Princeton Opens Season At Monmouth

Saturday, February 16

West Long Branch, N.J.

1:00 PM

Princeton University

Monmouth

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

February 14, 2019 | Men's Lacrosse

PRINCETON (0-0) vs. MONMOUTH (0-0)

Kessler Stadium • West Long Branch, N.J.
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019 • 1 p.m.
Series history Princeton leads 1-0
Last year Princeton defeated Monmouth 9-8 (two OT)

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The longest current winning streak in Division I will be on the line as the Princeton Tigers head east to take on Monmouth in the season opener for both.

Princeton finished the 2018 season by winning its final five games, turning around a 3-5 start to finish in a tie for third place in the Ivy League. Now as 2019 begins, Princeton has visions of playing into May and the pieces in place to make that happen.

Monmouth, of course, is thinking the same way. The Hawks, who reached the NCAA tournament two years ago, are the preseason favorite in the MAAC and are led by four preseason All-MAAC selections.

Princeton vs. Monmouth
Five Storylines

For starters
Princeton returns all three starters on attack, two starters on defense, one starter in the midfield, three of its top four shortstick D middies and its top three longstick midfielders, though one of them may move to defense.
The biggest graduation losses were a pair of 100-point scorers in the midfield (Austin Sims, Riley Thompson), a four-year starting goalie (Tyler Blaisdell) and a four-year starting face-off man (Sam Bonafede).
Princeton has three goalies on the roster, none of whom has started a game and only one of whom (Jon Levine) who has ever played in a game. Levine, a junior, and sophomores Erik Peters and Ben Churchill have had a close competition throughout the preseason. The same is true of the three face-off men, juniors Philip Thompson and Ralph Chrappa and sophomore Jack-Henry Vara.

Back on attack
Princeton returns Michael Sowers, Chris Brown and Phillip Robertson on attack. Those three combined last year for 83 goals and 74 assists, as Sowers led Division I in assists per game and points per game, Brown became the second Princeton freshman ever with at least one goal in every game and Robertson led Division I in shooting percentage.
As for Sowers, he set the program record with 82 points his freshman year and then bettered that with 83 more as a sophomore last year. His 56 assists last year are also a school record. Sowers enters his sophomore year with 165 career points, 10^th all-time at Princeton, and 97 career assists, which are fifth-best in program history. He is 82 points away from Kevin Lowe's 25-year-old school record for points in a career at Princeton.

Coordinated
For the first time in seven years, Princeton has the same defensive coordinator for two straight seasons as Jeremy Hirsch is back for Year 2. The unit that he oversees got better as the year went along last year, averaging 13.6 goals per game during the 3-5 start and then 10.0 per game during the five-game winning streak, including holding Cornell to just eight goals in a 14-8 win in the season finale.
Princeton's D this year is led by preseason All-America George Baughan, a second-team All-Ivy pick last year as a freshman. Andrew Song, another All-Ivy selection, is back as the No. 1 LSM. Arman Medghalchi has started 26 straight games on defense, and he is back healthy after missing the fall due to injury.

In The Midfield
Princeton has a 10-man freshman class that is being counted on to make an immediate impact. The spot most likely to be affected immediately is the midfield, where Princeton has a group of six freshmen who could all see playing time early.
One of them, Jake Stevens, a Culver Military product, looked strong on the face-off wings in last week's scrimmage against UMBC. Of course, when you say "Culver Military" and "face-off wings" in the same sentence, Princeton fans will automatically think of Zach Currier.
Charlie Durbin, who had an 18-goal year in 2017, is back in the midfield after missing all of last year due to injury, and Connor McCarthy is back after starting every game a year ago.

Coming attractions
The game against Monmouth is the beginning of a huge early-season run for Princeton. Between the Monmouth game and the end of March, Princeton will play, in order, at Monmouth, home with Virginia and Johns Hopkins, at Navy, Rutgers and Penn and then home with Yale, Denver and Brown.

Other notes

* Princeton and Monmouth meet for the second time, after the Tigers won 9-8 in double overtime on a goal by Riley Thompson from Michael Sowers. Princeton's starting attack of Sowers, Chris Brown and Phillip Robertson combined for six goals and six assists in the game

* Monmouth took 57 shots in the game last year, the most ever by a Hawks team in a game

* Princeton has two captains for the 2019 season, Michael Sowers and Strib Walker