No. 3 Princeton Hosts No. 6 Penn In Ivy Opener

Saturday, March 19

Princeton, N.J.

1:00 PM

Princeton University

Penn

Tickets

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

March 18, 2022 | Men's Lacrosse

NO. 3 PRINCETON VS. NO. 6 PENN
Saturday, March 19, 2022 • 1 pm
Sherrerd Field • Princeton, N.J.
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For the third straight week, Princeton plays in a game in which one of the teams is ranked third. Unlike the other two, Princeton would like to see the No. 3 team win.

Princeton has gone from starting the season unranked to now being No. 3 by Inside Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse Magazine (or No. 4, by the USILA). Up next for Princeton is Penn, who is the lowest ranked team the Tigers will have faced in the last four weeks, after a loss to No. 1 Maryland was followed by wins over No. 3 Georgetown and then No. 3 Rutgers. Penn? The Quakers come into the game ranked sixth by the USILA and Inside Lacrosse.

Princeton has allowed a goal on its opponent's first possession for four straight games. Penn has been more lethal on its last possession, having won its last two games on goals within the last second of regulation.

Princeton vs. Penn
Five Storylines

The Ivy League
This weekend marks the first weekend of Ivy League play. The league is a combined 26-6 overall and has won its last 16 games heading into the weekend. No Ivy team has lost a game in March.

There are six Ivy teams ranked in this week's polls, and the seventh is receiving votes. That means that there are currently at least two and possible three nationally ranked teams who will not make the Ivy League tournament.

There are three Ivy games this weekend, and all three are matchups of nationally ranked teams: Brown-Harvard, Yale-Cornell and Penn-Princeton.

Save it
Princeton goalie Erik Peters has been the Ivy League Player of the Week each of the last two weeks, after a 17-save performance against Georgetown and then a 21-save performance against Rutgers. If you add in his 19 saves against Maryland, Peters now has 57 saves in the last three weeks, with a .623 save percentage in those three games. Peters ranks third in Division I in save percentage (.629) and fifth in saves per game. Peters had made 14 career starts prior to this year and had been below 50 percent saving in eight of them; this year he is over 50 percent in all five games and at least 60 percent in four of five.

The 21 saves Peters made against Rutgers were the third-most by a Princeton player in the last 32 seasons, trailing a 24-save effort by Scott Bagicalupo in 1991 against Loyola and a 22-save effort by Trevor Tierney at Johns Hopkins in 2020.

The 21 saves were also the most ever by a Princeton goalie on Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium. Only one goalie has ever made more saves in a game at the facility than Peters did last week. Who was that?

It was Patrick Burkinshaw, who made his first career start as a Virginia player on Sherrerd Field in 2019. Burkinshaw had 24 saves in that game, a 12-11 UVa win in OT. Burkinshaw is now Penn's goalie.

In that 2019 game, by the way, Burkinshaw allowed three goals and made 11 saves against Princeton players who are still on the team.

Shoot it
Princeton ranks second in Division I in team shooting percentage (.379), trailing only Maryland. Princeton also has five players ranked in the top 100 in Division I in individual shooting percentage: Jake Stevens (second, .625), Chris Brown (11^th, .522), Alex Slusher (20^th, .462), Sam English (86^th, .370), Christian Ronda (93^rd, .364).

Score it
The Princeton-Penn game features two of the top eight players in Division I in goals per game. Princeton's Alex Slusher is eighth at 3.60, while Penn's Dylan Gergar is second at 4.0, with 16 goals in four games. Gergar had 17 goals in 16 games as a freshman in 2019 and then had 19 goals in five games in 2020 before the season was ended.

Slusher, who had seven goals and one assist in five games in 2020, has 18 goals and five assists in five games of 2022. Slusher is the only Princeton player with at least one goal in every game this season (and has a streak of eight straight games with at least a goal that is now the longest on the team).

Princeton has four players with at least one point in all five games: Slusher, Chris Brown, Sam English and Alexander Vardaro.

Series history
Princeton and Penn meet for the 89^th time, and Princeton holds a 67-21 edge in the series to date. Princeton defeated Penn every year from 1990 through 2011, but it's been much closer in recent years.

In fact, the teams have split their last 10 meetings. Also, as a side note, Princeton has made the Ivy tournament in years it has beaten Penn and not made the Ivy tournament in years when it has lost to Penn eight times in the 10 years there's been an Ivy tournament. The only times when the win-and-reach-the-tournament-lose-and-don't thing didn't play out were 2013, when Princeton lost to Penn but reached the tournament, and 2014, when Princeton defeated Penn but didn't reach the tournament.

While we're talking Princeton-Penn, none of the last five games in the series has been closer than six goals, with an average score of Winning Team 17.4, Losing Team 9.2.

Other notes

* Princeton is ranked in the top 10 in Division I in all of the following: shooting percentage (second), man-up offense (second), saves per game (third), caused turnovers per game (third), scoring offense (fifth), scoring margin (fifth), fewest turnovers per game (seventh), opponent clearing percentage (eighth), points per game (ninth).

* Princeton has played five games and used four different starting lineups.

* Sam English has scored Princeton's first goal in four straight games.

* Princeton has won 47.3 percent of its face-offs. The Tigers have not been over 50 percent for a season since 2012.

* Princeton has 40 assists on 80 goals. The last time Princeton didn't have at least 60 percent of its goals assisted on for a season was 2011.

* Princeton has had at least 15 caused turnovers (the previous program record) in three of its five games, including a new program-record 17 at Georgetown. Princeton had four in its loss at Maryland and six last week against Rutgers.

* Princeton is 9-1 in its last 10 games and 13-2 in its last 15 games.

* Princeton has seven players who were ranked among the Top 100 freshman by Inside Lacrosse, tying the Tigers with North Carolina for the most of any team in the country.

What can you say about …

Jamie Atkinson • Sr., M, No. 25
* one of five senior captains (also George Baughan, Chris Brown, Erik Peters, Andrew Song)
* missed the first four games due to injury before returning to play against Rutgers

Tommy Barnds • So., A, No. 21
* has three goals and two assists
* had a goal against Maryland
* made his first three career starts after having moved from middie to attack and has now moved back to middie

Michael Bath • Fr., LSM, No. 88
* has played LSM and on the face-off wings
* had first career goal in the Binghamton game
* has two caused turnovers and six ground balls

George Baughan • Sr., D, No. 17
* 2020 Inside Lacrosse first-team All-American
* unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection and honorable mention All-American in 2019
* Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* has three caused turnovers
* missed the Georgetown and Rutgers games due to injury

Pace Billings • So., D, No. 3
* starter on close defense after being an LSM through the fall
* has three caused turnovers
* had first career assist against Georgetown
* held Georgetown's Conor Morin without a goal or assist
* missed the Rutgers game due to injury

Chris Brown • Sr., A, No. 6
* has at least one point in all 37 games in his career
* had 35-game streak with at least one goal to start his career, which was the longest streak to start a career and second longest overall in program history (next longest streak to start a career was 14 games)
* had back-to-back seven-point games to start the season, with 3G, 4A against Monmouth and 4G, 3A against Binghamton
* had 3G, 1A against Rutgers
* had 2G, 1A against Maryland
* has a .529 shooting percentage (nine goals, 17 shots), ranking 11^th in Division I
* leads the team in assists (10) and is second on the team in points (22) and goals (12)
* has 129 career points, or 90 more than the next-highest total on the team
* is 23^rd all-time in points and tied for 25^th all-time in goals at Princeton

Career points
19. Josh Sims (141)
20. Gavin McBride (140)
21. Rob Polumbo (139)
22. Taylor Simmers (137)
23. Chris Brown (129)

Career goals
22. Jeff Froccaro (86)
23.Mark Kovler (84)
24. Dave Huebeck (83)
25. Chris Brown/Jon Hess/Austin Sims (82)

Sean Cameron • Fr., M, No. 11
* second-line midfielder who had his first career goal in win over Binghamton

Luke Crimmins • Sr., SSDM, No. 31
* converted to SSDM in two weeks before season started
* had his best career game with a goal, two caused turnovers and five ground balls against Georgetown
* had three ground balls against Rutgers
* had two goals on two shots against Binghamton

Sam English * Jr., M, No. 15
* has 10 goals and seven assists after moving from SSDM to a first-line midfielder
* second on the team in assists and third in goals and points
* has scored Princeton's first goal in each of the last four games
* had three goals and an assist against Georgetown
* had a career-high four goals against Maryland
* had five points (2G, 3A) against Binghamton

Ben Finlay • Jr., D, No. 10
* has started every game of his career
* has eight caused turnovers through two games, tied for the team lead
* had a caused turnover and four ground balls against Maryland
* had four caused turnovers against Georgetown

Joseph Juengerkes • So., SSDM, No. 13
* has seen considerable time as an SSDM
* has a caused turnover and ground ball

Coulter Mackesy • Fr., M, No. 91
* began the year as a middie and made first career start on attack against Georgetown
* had four goals and two assists in second career start, against Rutgers, to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors
* has six goals and four assists

Colin Mulshine • Fr., D, No. 43
* has started the last two games, wins over Georgetown and Rutgers
* helped hold the Hoya attack to two goals on 13 shots
* had two caused turnovers against Rutgers
* has two caused turnovers and seven ground balls

Beau Pederson • Jr., SSDM, No. 23
* Princeton's top shortstick D middie
* had a goal against Binghamton
* had an assist against Maryland
* had a caused turnover and three ground balls against Georgetown
* has two caused turnovers and nine ground balls
* converted O middie who had 10 goals as a freshman

Erik Peters • Sr., G, No. 9
* has a 10.35 goals-against average and .629 save percentage through five games
* added to Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* is third in the country in save percentage and fifth in the country in saves per game
* has made 57 saves in his last three games (Maryland, Georgetown, Rutgers)
* had a career-high 21 saves against Rutgers to earn Ivy Player of the Week award for second straight week; also named to the USILA Team of the Week after the Rutgers game
* had 17 saves while allowing eight goals against Georgetown to earn Ivy Player of the Week honors; made 10 saves in the second half and six in the fourth quarter
* made 19 saves against Maryland
* Princeton's starting goalie since midway through the 2019 season

Cathal Roberts • Jr., D, No. 26
* can play close D or LSM
* caused turnover at midfield led to key second-quarter goal against Georgetown
* has four caused turnovers and three ground balls

Christian Ronda • Jr, M, No. 12
* has eight goals and two assists as a starting middie
* played in one career game prior to this season without taking a shot
* had two goals against Rutgers
* had five goals against Monmouth in his first start

Tyler Sandoval • So., FO, No. 35
* has won 55 of 97 face-offs (.567)
* leads team with 22 ground balls
* won 19 of 31 face-offs against Rutgers
* had an assist against Binghamton
* missed the Maryland game in the Covid protocol

Alex Slusher • Jr., A, No. 5
* leads team with 18 goals and 23 points
* has 18 goals on 39 shots, for a .462 shooting percentage that ranks 20^th in Division I
* had five of Princeton's 10 goals against Georgetown
* had four goals and two assists against Rutgers
* also had five goals against Monmouth
* has moved to attack from being a starting midfielder in 2020
* member of the U.S. U-21 team for the upcoming World Championships in Ireland

Andrew Song • Sr., LSM, No. 32
* fourth-year starting LSM
* also plays on face-off wings
* named to USILA Team of the Week after a four-caused turnover, three-ground ball performance against Georgetown
* has eight caused turnovers (tied for the team lead) and also has 11 ground balls
* played for China in the 2018 World Championships

Jacob Stoebner • Jr., D, No. 28
* veteran defender who has been either a starter or key reserve
* started against Rutgers and had a caused turnover and three ground balls
* had three ground balls against Georgetown
* has two caused turnovers and six ground balls

Jake Stevens • Jr., M, No. 14
* do-it-all midfielder who plays offense, defense and face-off wings
* has 10 goals
* ranks second in Division I in shooting percentage (.625, 10 for 16)
* second on team with 18 ground balls
* had two goals and three ground balls against Rutgers
* had a goal and five ground balls against Georgetown
* had three goals against Monmouth and four goals against Binghamton

Alexander Vardaro • Jr., M, No. 19
* only starting midfielder from 2020 who is starting in midfield this year
* has five goals and four assists
* had two goals against Maryland
* had two assists against Georgetown
* team's second-leading career scorer (28-11-39)

Jack-Henry Vara • Sr., FO, No. 47
* returned from the Covid protocol to take all 29 face-offs against Maryland

Marquez White • So., SSDM, No. 24
* running as a first-line SSDM
* had caused turnover against Georgetown