Princeton Hosts Colgate Tuesday Night; Sowers Named Ivy Player Of The Week

Tuesday, February 18

Princeton, N.J.

6:00 PM

Princeton University

Colgate

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

Princeton Hosts Colgate Tuesday Night; Sowers Named Ivy Player Of The Week

February 17, 2020 | Men's Lacrosse

Princeton (1-0) vs. Colgate (0-2)
Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium • Princeton, N.J.
Feb. 18, 2020 • 6 p.m.

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Remember the last time Princeton and Colgate played men's lacrosse? Were you there?

You weren't? Don't worry. You're not alone.

As hard as it is to believe, this is the third all-time meeting between Princeton and Colgate and the first since Herbert Hoover was in the White House. Hey, the other meeting was when Warren Harding was.

Princeton is 2-0 against the Raiders, with an 11-2 win in 1922 and a 7-3 win in 1929, both in Princeton. How is that possible, given how many times Princeton has played in Central New York and Colgate has played at Lafayette, Lehigh and others?

Regardless of the history, Princeton and Colgate meet in an early-season matchup between a team that played Saturday and is headed this coming Saturday to take on the defending NCAA champion and another team that opened against two NCAA championship contenders (North Carolina, Syracuse) and has since been off for 10 days.

Princeton vs. Colgate
Five Storylines

Series history … what little of it there is.
Princeton started playing men's lacrosse in 1881 but did not field a team from 1894 through 1921. The Tigers restarted their program with three games against club teams, and it wasn't until the 1922 season that Princeton started playing college teams again, beginning with NYU.

Princeton would play Colgate in the seventh game of the 1922 season, winning 11-2. The teams had two common opponents in 1922, with both having played Syracuse (understandable) and Oxford-Cambridge (unexpected).

Princeton and Colgate then played again in 1929, this time with a 7-3 Tiger win. And then? Nothing for 91 years, until this game.

Sowers updates
Michael Sowers opened his senior season with an 11-point game (4G, 7A) in the 20-9 win over Monmouth Saturday. The 11 points tied the school record for a single-game, a record Sowers already shared with David Tickner and David Heubeck.

There have been 25 games in program history in which a player has scored at least nine points, and Sowers now has nine of those. The next-best total is three, done by both Mike MacDonald and Jesse Hubbard. Sowers also has four games in his career with at least 10 points; no other Princeton player has more than one.

Sowers, who was already Princeton's all-time leading scorer, now has 266 career points, which ranks sixth in Ivy League history. His 157 assists trail Kevin Lowe's career record of 174 by 17.

Sowers was named the Ivy League Player of the Week for Week 1.

National leaders
Yes, it's very, very early, but Princeton does lead Division I in two statistical categories.

Princeton caused 14 turnovers in the game against Monmouth, a number that (per game) leads the country. Princeton also scored 20 goals on 47 shots, for a Division I-best .426 shooting percentage.

Robertson and Brown
Phillip Robertson became the 36^th player in Princeton history to reach 60 career goals with his five-goal outing against Monmouth. Chris Brown had two goals against Monmouth, giving him 59 and leaving him one away from being the 37^th player to get to 60.

Robertson has 60 career goals, and Michael Sowers has assisted on 28 of them. The next-highest total of Sowers' assists to one player is 20, to Gavin McBride.

Brown extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one goal to 28, or all 28 of his career, which is by far the longest streak to start a career in Princeton history (the record for longest goal streak is 46, by Chris Massey). Brown's current streak trails only Charlie Kitchen of Delaware in Division I.

Three to start
Alex Slusher had three goals (and an assist) in his Princeton debut Saturday. Slusher, who is primarily an attackman and one of the final 24 players for 23 spots on the U.S. U-19 team, played in Princeton's first midfield Saturday.

The last Princeton player to have three goals in the first game of his freshman year was Mike MacDonald in 2012. Going back further, only three other players have scored three goals in the first game of their freshman year in the last 25 seasons – Jeff Froccaro in 2010, Rob Engelke in 2007 and Tommy Davis in 2006.

Other notes

* Princeton had five players with two caused turnovers against Monmouth: Jacob Stoebner (in his first career start), Nick Bauer, Beau Pederson (in his first game at shortstick defensive midfield), Sam English (first game, freshman year) and Michael Sowers.

* Sam English had a two-caused turnover, five-ground ball debut.

* Princeton used three freshmen in major roles: Ben Finlay (defense) and Alex Slusher (midfield) both started, and Sam English played in the first group of shortstick d middies.

* Michael Sowers has at least two points in every game of his career.

* Jack-Henry Vara won 18 of 27 face-offs against Monmouth (.667). Vara was below 50 percent a year ago.

* Luca Lazzaretto, the No. 2 longstick midfielder, had a caused turnover and four ground balls against Monmouth, matching his season total from a year ago as a freshman.

* Arman Medghalchi started on defense against Monmouth. It was his 36^th career start.

* Princeton got seven goals out of its first midfield against Monmouth (three from Alex Slusher, two each from Connor McCarthy and Alexander Vardaro). The Tigers averaged 3.1 goals per game from their first midfield in 2019.