No. 2/3 Princeton Travels To No. 11/14 Yale For Another Ivy Matchup Of Ranked Teams

Saturday, March 26

New Haven, Conn.

3:30 PM

Princeton University

Yale

Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

No. 2/3 Princeton Travels To No. 11/14 Yale For Another Ivy Matchup Of Ranked Teams

March 25, 2022 | Men's Lacrosse

PRINCETON (No. 2 Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, No. 3 USILA poll) at YALE (No. 11 USILA, No. 14 Inside Lacrosse)
Saturday, March 26, 2022 • 3:30 pm
Reese Stadium • New Haven, Conn.
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Probable Princeton starters
Career highs
Career scoring/pronunciations

The overtime goal from Chris Brown had barely made it into the net last Saturday afternoon, setting off a raucous celebration among the home fans, when the Princeton men's lacrosse had to turn the page to the next challenge.

Brown's goal was the 41^st and final one of the day and gave the Tigers a 21-20 win over Penn in the Ivy League opener for both. For Princeton, it ended a four-week run that saw the Tigers play teams ranked No. 1, No. 3, No. 3 and No. 6 in the polls and go 3-1, winning the last three.

It is time to relax? Uh, no. Not with who is waiting in New Haven Saturday afternoon.

Princeton (5-1. 1-0 Ivy ) vs. Yale (3-2, 0-1 Ivy)
Five Storylines

Series history, all-time and recent
Princeton and Yale meet for the 105^th time, and Princeton has a 74-29-2 edge all-time. There is no team that Princeton has played more than Yale; the closest is Rutgers, whom the Tigers have played 99 times.

Princeton and Yale first met on Oct. 14, 1882, and the teams met three times in the 1882-83 season, with scores of 2-1, 2-0 and 3-0, all Princeton wins. The teams met six times in the 1880s and have met at least one every year since 1923 other than 1943-46 and 2020-21. They've met four times in Ivy League tournament games and once in the NCAA tournament.

Princeton and Yale played eight straight one-goal games until 2017. Yale has won the last three since that streak ended by three, eight and five goals.

Speaking of recent history, Yale has won the last five games between the teams. The last time Princeton lost that many consecutive games to the same Ivy team was 1987-90, when Yale beat Princeton five straight times (four in the regular season and also in the 1990 NCAA tournament). The last time Princeton lost as many as six straight to the same team was to both Penn and Cornell in the 1980s.

The Ivy League
Last weekend was the first weekend of conference games, and all three games matched teams ranked in the top 20. The seventh Ivy team, Dartmouth, who opens its league season this weekend, was receiving votes.

The obvious math tells you that come Ivy League tournament time, either two or three teams who are nationally ranked this week will not be participating.

How did the first weekend go? All three games were one-goal games, and all three games were won by the home team.

The Ivy League is 27-7 in non-league games, including 17-1 in March.

Face-offs
Yale has had overwhelming success against Princeton at the face-off X in recent memory. In fact, Yale has won the face-off matchup in 19 of the last 20 meetings, and if you add all thoe face-offs together, Yale has won 300 of 442, or .679 percent.

For 2022, Princeton's Tyler Sandoval ranks second in the Ivy League in face-off percentage, at .541. Yale's Nicholas Ramsey ranks first, at .579.

As far as possession goes, Princeton leads the Ivy League with 36.83 ground balls per game. Yale is fourth, at 33.60. Princeton had 45 ground balls against Penn a week ago.

Take care of the ball
Princeton and Yale rank 1-2 in the Ivy League in fewest turnover per game. Princeton, who is first, turns it over 14.17 times per game. Yale is next, at 15.40.

The lack of turnovers and the ground ball success leads to another logical stat: Princeton and Yale are tied for the league lead in shots per game, at 44.0 each.

Scoring offense
Princeton ranks second in Division I in scoring offense at 16.83 goals per game, trailing only Maryland, who averages 18.29. Princeton has scored 21 or 22 goals in three of its first six games.

The last time Princeton reached at least 20 goals in a season three times was … never. That's for a full season, not just six games. Princeton did reach at least 19 goals four times in 1997 and five times in 1998.

Princeton is also third in the country in shooting percentage at .383. There are five Princeton players in the top 78 in Division I in individual shooting percentage, including two of the top four:

3. Chris Brown (.581)
4. Jake Stevens (.571)
17. Alex Slusher (.467)
62. Sam English (.387)
78. Christian Ronda (.370)

Other notes

* Princeton has played six games and used five different starting lineups. Princeton has also had 14 different players start at least one game. Princeton has not used the same attack, midfield or defense in every game through six games.

* Princeton is ranked in the top 10 in Division I in all of the following: shooting percentage (second), man-up offense (second), scoring offense (third), man-up offense (third), points per game (fourth), scoring margin (fifth), ground balls per game (sixth), fewest turnovers per game (sixth), saves per game (sixth), assists per game (ninth).

* Princeton has not been over 50 percent for a season since 2012.

* Princeton has 52 assists on 101 goals. The last time Princeton didn't have at least 60 percent of its goals assisted on for a season was 2011.

* Princeton is 10-1 in its last 11 games and 14-2 in its last 16 games.

* Chris Brown became the third player to score an overtime goal for Princeton since Matt Madalon because head coach when he had the game-winner last week against Penn. The other two were Riley Thompson against Monmouth and Austin Sims against Rutgers, both in 2018.

* 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 four goals and two assists
* had a goal against Penn
* 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 five caused turnovers
* missed the Georgetown and Rutgers games due to injury
* returned to play against Penn and had two caused turnovers

Pace Billings • So., D, No. 3
* starter on close defense after being an LSM through the fall
* has four 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
* returned from injury with a CT against Penn

Chris Brown • Sr., A, No. 6
* has at least one point in all 38 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)
* has 18 goals (second on the team) and 13 assists and 31 points (both leading the team)
* leads the Ivy League and is third in Division I in shooting percentage (.581); is 22^nd in Division I in goals per game
* had six goals and three assists, including the game-winning goal, in a 21-20 overtime win over Penn; six goals and nine points were career highs
* named USA Lacrosse Magazine Division I Player of the Week and to the USILA Team of the Week after the Penn game
* 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 138 career points, or 90 more than the next-highest total on the team
* is 21^st all-time in points and 21st all-time in goals at Princeton

Career points
18. Don Hahn (146)
19. Josh Sims (141)
20. Gavin McBride (140)
21. Chris Brown (138)

Career goals
17. Bill Chaires/Lorne Smith/David Tickner (94)
20. Jack McBride (90)
21. Chris Brown (88)

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

Luke Crimmins • Sr., SSDM, No. 31
* converted to SSDM just 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 12 goals and nine assists after moving from SSDM to a first-line midfielder
* second on the team in assists and third in goals and points
* scored Princeton's first goal four straight games prior to Penn game
* had two goals and two assists against Penn
* 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, second on the team
* 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 two ground balls

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 seven goals and seven assists

Colin Mulshine • Fr., D, No. 43
* started in the wins 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 eight ground balls

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

Erik Peters • Sr., G, No. 9
* has a 11.98 goals-against average and .566 save percentage through five games
* added to Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* is 12th in the country in save percentage and sixth 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 five ground balls

Christian Ronda • Jr, M, No. 12
* has 10 goals and two assists as a starting middie
* is 78^th in Division I in shooting percentage (.370)
* played in one career game prior to this season without taking a shot
* had two goals against Penn
* had two goals against Rutgers
* had five goals against Monmouth in his first start

Tyler Sandoval • So., FO, No. 35
* has won 72 of 133 face-offs (.541)
* is second in the Ivy League in face-off winning percentage
* leads team with 27 ground balls
* won 19 of 31 face-offs against Rutgers
* was 17 for 36 against Penn but won the face-off to start the overtime
* 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 is second with 26 points
* is eighth in Division I goals per game and 17^th in Division I shooting percentage (.467)
* has at least three goals in five of six games
* had five of Princeton's 10 goals against Georgetown
* had four goals and two assists against Rutgers
* had three goals against Penn
* 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 10 caused turnovers, leading the team, and has 16 ground balls
* had two caused turnovers and five ground balls against Penn, including a ground ball on the overtime face-off
* 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 12 goals and one assist
* ranks fourth in Division I in shooting percentage (.571)
* second on team with 25 ground balls
* had two goals, one assist and seven ground balls against Penn
* 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 eight goals and six assists
* had three goals and two assists against Penn
* 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