Princeton Men's Lacrosse 2022 Outlook
February 15, 2022 | Men's Lacrosse
The Princeton men’s lacrosse team opens the 2022 season with a roster of 50 players. Of that group, only 20 have played in more than five games in their entire careers, and a full 23 have never set foot on the field for a college game.
When you dive a bit deeper, though, you see a team with depth, balance, experience and new blood up and down the field. There is competition for spots at every position, and there will be names that are both familiar and brand-new who make huge impacts. In almost every area, Princeton is stronger in 2022 than it has been in years, even going back two years ago, when the team was ranked in the top three of each poll and poised to make a serious run at its seventh national championship when the season was cancelled.
A position-by-position look at the 2022 Tigers:
Attack
Starters returning – Chris Brown, Alex Slusher (started at midfield in 2020)
Other returning letterwinners – Tommy Barnds, Weston Carpenter, Jack Crockett, Coulter Mackesey, Christian Ronda
Newcomers – Hunter Engel, Jack Ringhofer Braedon Saris, Lukas Stanat
Okay, let’s start out with who isn’t here anymore. There’s no more Michael Sowers, he of the 302 career points in 47 games. His absence, and that of his favorite target, Phillip Robertson, have left the biggest hole that Princeton has to address.
Ah, but the cupboard is hardly empty without them. For starters, there is Chris Brown, the only player in Princeton lacrosse history who has scored at least one goal in every game of his career through his first three seasons. Brown, one of the team’s five captains, has been among the most underrated players in college lacrosse since he first came to Princeton. In addition to his goal-scoring streak, which stands at 32 entering the season and is the second-longest in program history behind Chris Massey’s 46, Brown scored at least two in each of the five games in 2020 and is already over 100 career points in little more than two seasons. Despite that, he has never been named All-Ivy or All-American.
Joining Brown on attack will be Alex Slusher, who played on the first midfield in 2020 but returns to his natural position on attack. Slusher, who is a member of the United States team that will compete at the World U-21 Championships in Ireland this summer, had seven goals and an assist in his only five games to date, including the final two goals in the win over defending champ Virginia.
Who will be the third starter on attack? There are many candidates, all of whom could also end up as midfielders. Tommy Barnds was another midfielder as a freshman in 2020, and he had a pair of goals, including a big one late in the first quarter to help Princeton sprint away from Johns Hopkins. He had a strong fall playing on attack, as did Christian Ronda, who brings speed and vision to the offense. Coulter Mackesey is a highly rated recruit who will also push for a starting spot; both he and Ronda could end up being middies.
Midfield
Starters returning - Beau Pederson, Jake Stevens, Alexander Vardaro
Other returning letterwinners - Luc Anderson, Jamie Atkinson, Nicky Bond, Luke Crimmins, Sam English, Will Kusnierek, Bear Lockshin, Carter Zavitz
Newcomers – Billy Barnds, Sean Cameron, Laim Fairback, Teddy Gutman, Joseph Juengerkes, Michael Kelly, Paul Weathington Jr., Marquez White
The last time Princeton had a midfield this deep was, well, not for a long time. Even some of the best Princeton teams didn’t have this many options in the midfield. What Princeton does not have is a midfielder who has ever started more than eight games in a season, which means that multiple players are going to be asked to do more than they have in the past. Given that, and the number of options to choose from, there are endless permutations of who might play and in what spot. To that end, it’s hard to tell where to start. It’s also hard to figure out where the offensive midfielders end and the defensive midfielders begin.
Take Jake Stevens, for instance. Stevens, a member of the Canadian national team and a great box player, reminds you of another player who can fit that description, Zack Currier. Stevens may be a little smaller and righthanded than his fellow Culver grad Currier, but the way he plays is right out of Currier’s mold. Stevens can score and defend and is vicious on ground balls, especially on the face-off wings. He led Princeton in ground balls in 2019 and had 19 in five games in 2020, along with seven goals and an assist.
There’s also Sam English, who was a defensive shortstick midfielder in 2020 (goal, assist, five ground balls and three caused turnovers in five games). This season English will be counted on to do what he did in a fall scrimmage against Towson, which is to play both ends of the field and to use his goal-scoring ability (three goals against those Tigers). Beau Pederson was an offensive midfielder as a freshman in 2019 (10 goals) and a defensive midfielder in 2020 (eight ground balls, three caused turnovers); in 2022 he will be another big, athletic option with a broad skillset. Luc Anderson has been exclusively a shortstick D middie to date, and he’s had only one issue so far: staying healthy.
Alexander Vardaro is Princeton’s leading returning scorer in the midfield, with 10 goals in five games in 2020 and 23 goals for his career (which has consisted of 19 games). Vardaro is the middie who has started the most games to date with 13, eight in 2019 and all five in 2020. His strengths are his quickness and shot, and he plays with emotion and tenacity.
Jamie Atkinson, one of the team captains, is one of the team’s better outside threats, and he has 10 goals and six assists in 18 games between 2019 and 2020, with three games started as well. Luke Crimmins has also been a steady offensive midfielder for his entire career, starting with an eight-goal freshman year in 2018.
Princeton will be using several newcomers in big roles on both sides of the field, including Sean Cameron, Marquez White and Paul Weathington Jr.
Longstick midfielder
Starter returning – Andrew Song
Other returning letterwinners – Luca Lazzaretto, Luke Moriarty
Newcomers – Michael Bath, McKnight Pederson
Andrew Song is as good a longstick midfielder as Princeton has ever had, which is saying a great deal. He is a great individual defender who is also a big part of the transition game, as well as one of the best goal-scoring longsticks the program has ever seen, with five career goals to date. To go along with that he has 120 ground balls, many on face-off wings, and 35 caused turnovers.
In addition to Song, Princeton also has Luca Lazzaretto, who had five caused turnovers and seven ground balls in the five games of 2020, not to mention his first career goal, which came against Johns Hopkins. Joining those two will be freshman Michael Bath, the No. 23 ranked incoming recruit according to Inside Lacrosse. Pace Billings, another freshman, had an impressive fall.
Defense
Starters returning – George Baughan, Ben Finlay
Other returning letterwinners – Owen Engel, Cathal Roberts, Jacob Stoebner
Newcomers – Pace Billings, Colin Freer, Colin Mulshine
Princeton could mix and match its poles between LSM and close defense, and there are several scenarios for lineups depending on how much of that occurs. No matter what, the No. 1 cover man for Princeton will be as good a No. 1 cover man as there is anywhere in the country. George Baughan, who first earned national attention as a freshman for shutting out Cornell’s Jeff Teat, was an Inside Lacrosse first-team All-American in 2020, one year after being a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection and honorable mention All-American in 2019. Baughan plays with intensity at all times, and he has been among the Ivy and Division I leaders in caused turnovers every year, with 47 caused turnovers in 27 career games.
Ben Finlay had a great start to his career, starting all five games in 2020 as a freshman, with three caused turnovers and 12 ground balls. Cathal Roberts is a big, physical player who has been limited to seven career games to date by injuries, but he has seven caused turnovers and 12 ground balls in that short time. Jacob Stoebner, who like Roberts is 6-3 and athletic, started one game in 2020.
Pace Billings, a sophomore, has been impressive at both close defense and longstick midfield and will make a big impact at one or the other. Freshman Colin Mulshine is the No. 14 incoming recruit by Inside Lacrosse and is pushing to get on the field as well.
Goalie
Starter returning – Erik Peters
Other returning letterwinners – Ben Churchill, Griffen Rackower
Newcomer – Michael Gianforcaro
Princeton has a returning starter and a lot of competition behind him in goal.
Erik Peters has started 14 games in his career, including all five in 2020. That season saw him make 16 saves while allowing 12 goals at Virginia, with 15 saves against Hopkins. Peters looked great in the fall as well.
Griffen Rackower may not have played in a game yet, but he also had a great fall to put himself very much into the mix for the starting spot. The third competitor is Michael Gianforcaro, the top goalie recruit in the country two years ago.
Face-off
Starter returning – Tyler Sandoval
Other returning letterwinner – Jack-Henry Vara
Newcomer – Koby Ginder
After years of struggling to gain possessions, Princeton’s face-off game is looking like it will be one of the team’s biggest strengths, between the face-off men themselves and the players on the wings.
Tyler Sandoval made an immediate impact in 2020, despite missing the fall and most of the preseason practice due to injuries. Sandoval won 39 of 74 face-offs, a .537 percentage, with a goal and an assist mixed in. He was very good at UVa and against Hopkins, and then he was great against Rutgers, winning 17 of 29 face-offs, picking up 10 ground balls, scoring his first college goal and perhaps most importantly allowing Princeton to put together separate scoring runs of four goals and six goals.
Jack-Henry Vara has had some strong moments in his career. Koby Ginder is a highly regarded freshman who looked great in the fall scrimmages, when Sandoval and Vara were both out.
Whoever takes the face-offs will benefit from Jake Stevens and Andrew Song, who are as good on the wings as any combination in lacrosse.