No. 3 Princeton Hosts Dartmouth As Ivy Stretch Drive Begins

Saturday, April 16

Princeton, N.J.

3:00 PM

Princeton University

Dartmouth

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Photo by: Shelley M. Szwast

No. 3 Princeton Hosts Dartmouth As Ivy Stretch Drive Begins

April 15, 2022 | Men's Lacrosse

No. 3 PRINCETON (8-2, 2-1 Ivy League) vs. DARTMOUTH (4-6, 0-3 Ivy League)
Saturday, April 16, 2022 • 3 pm
Sherrerd Field • Princeton, N.J.
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It's time for the Ivy League men's lacrosse stretch drive to begin. With three weekends left in the regular season, that means there are nine remaining league games on the schedule. As of now, no team has clinched a spot in the Ivy League tournament; by the end of the games Saturday, that number could be anywhere from zero to three.

For Princeton and Dartmouth, it's the 68^th meeting, and a game that, like every other Ivy game this year, is hugely important.

The Princeton-Dartmouth men's game is the second game of a doubleheader that begins at noon with the Princeton-Dartmouth women.

Princeton vs. Dartmouth
Five Storylines

Surging Ivy
With three weekends to go, there are four Ivy League teams with one loss, five Ivy League teams ranked in the top 10 of the RPI, six Ivy League teams ranked in the USILA Top 20 and six in the Inside Lacrosse media top 17.

Princeton, Harvard, Cornell and Yale all have one league loss. Should any of those four win their remaining league games, they'd be assured of no worse than a share of the Ivy League championship.

The Ivy tournament
The top four teams in the league will compete three weeks from now in the Ivy League tournament, which will be held May 6-8 at the home of the No. 1 seed. There is a scenario in the league tiebreakers where an unbreakable deadlock at the top would result in a random draw, and the winner would get to choose between being the No. 1 seed or hosting the tournament, so it's possible in some years that the No. 2 seed could host, though that is mathematically impossible this year.

As for what is possible, right now Cornell or Harvard would host by winning out, while the others need help, including Princeton, who cannot host the tournament unless Yale loses one of its two remaining league games.

Yale would clinch the first spot with a win over Brown Saturday. Should Brown beat Yale, then no team can clinch a spot this weekend.

If Yale beats Brown, then Harvard would be in with a win over Penn. If Yale and Harvard both win, then Princeton would be in with a win over Dartmouth as well. No matter what else happens, Princeton would be in the tournament with wins in any two of its final three games.

Series history
Princeton leads the all-time series 58-9, including a 34-1 record in Princeton. The lone Dartmouth win in Princeton came in 2003, when the Big Green won a 13-6 decision, backed by All-American goalie Andrew Goldstein, who made 17 saves. Dartmouth, Princeton and Cornell would share the Ivy title that year.

The Tigers have won the last six meetings between the two, including most recently a 13-4 win in Hanover in 2019, in game in which Chris Brown scored four goals and Erik Peters made 17 saves. The most recent game on Sherrerd Field was in 2018, a 24-13 Princeton win that was the highest scoring game in program history until this year's 21-20 win over Penn.

Ground balls
Princeton is the No. 1 team in the country in ground balls per game with 38.5 per game. The No. 2 team at 37.82 is Boston University, whom Princeton played last week; Princeton had a 45-38 edge over BU in ground balls.

The No. 3 team is Virginia, at 37.40. If you go back to the 2013 season, only two teams have led the country in ground balls per game – Virginia and Brown.

Defense
Princeton leads the Ivy League in scoring defense at 10.6 goals per game allowed. Princeton has allowed 8.4 goals per game in the five games Colin Mulshine has started (Georgetown, Rutgers, Brown, Marist, Boston University – all Princeton wins) and has allowed 12.8 in the five he did not start.

Princeton has held three straight opponents to single digits and six total for the season. The last time Princeton matched those numbers was in the 2012 season, when Princeton held 12 of its 15 opponents to single digits, including one run of five straight, while having the No. 1 scoring defense in Division I.

Princeton is 6-0 when the other team does not reach double figures and 2-2 when it does.

Other notes

* Matt Madalon reached 40 career wins in his 62^nd game as Princeton head coach, which is the second-fastest ever by a Princeton men's lacrosse head coach. The six fastest at Princeton are (with year started in parenthesis):
Bill Logan (1936) 59 games
Matt Madalon (2016) 62 games
Al Nies (1921) 66 games
Chris Bates (2012) 67 games
Ferris Thomsen (1951) 70 games
Bill Tierney (1988) 71 games

* Princeton has won 148 face-offs and lost 150. Princeton has not been above 50 percent for a season since 2012.

* Princeton averages 45.6 shots per game. The last time Princeton averaged more for a full season was 1994, when the Tigers averaged 45.9.

* Princeton is ranked in the top 10 in Division I in all of the following: ground balls per game (first), scoring offense (second), points per game (second), shooting percentage (third), scoring margin (fourth), caused turnovers per game (fourth), man-up offense (sixth), opponent clearing percentage (10^th), saves per game (10^th)

* Princeton has 82 assists on 150 goals (51.3%). The last time Princeton didn't have at least 60 percent of its goals assisted on for a season was 2011.

* Princeton is 13-2 in its last 15 games and 17-3 in its last 20 games.

* Princeton had eight players honored as Inside Lacrosse mid-season All-Americans: Jake Stevens (second team), Andrew Song (third team) and honorable mention selections George Baughan, Chris Brown, Sam Engish, Ben Finlay, Erik Peters and Alexander Vardaro.

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)
* had a career-high three goals against Marist
* missed the first four games due to injury before returning to play against Rutgers

Tommy Barnds • So., A, No. 21
* has five goals and two assists
* had a goal during Princeton's 6-0 run to take control against Brown in the third quarter
* 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 seven 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
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season honorable mention All-American
* Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* named to USILA Team of the Week after having four caused turnovers and 11 ground balls in wins over Marist and Boston University; also shut out BU's Louis Perfetto, who had a point in all 27 games of his career prior to that
* has 11 caused turnovers
* had an assist, a caused turnover and four ground balls against Yale
* missed the Georgetown and Rutgers games due to injury
* returned to play against Penn and had two caused turnovers

Pace Billings • So., D/LSM, No. 3
* started on close defense for first seven games after being an LSM through the fall; moved back to LSM against Brown
* has seven 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
* had two caused turnovers against Marist as LSM

Chris Brown • Sr., A, No. 6
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season honorable mention All-American
* has at least one point in all 42 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 24 goals (second on the team) and 27 assists and 51 points (both leading the team)
* is the 38^th player in program history to have a season of at least 20 goals and 20 assists
* is eighth in Division I in assists per game and 12^th in points 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 seven assists against Boston University
* is one of two players in program history (Michael Sowers is the other) with one career game with at least six goals and another career game with at least seven assists
* had two goals and three assists against Brown
* 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
* had two goals and four assists against Marist

Career points
10. Wick Sollers (174)
\11. Ryan Ambler (168)
12. Justin Tortolani (164)
13. David Tickner (163)
14. Chris Brown (158)

Career goals
13. Kip Orban (101)
14. Peter Trombino (98)
15. Gerald Ronon/Scott Conklin (97)
17. Bill Chaires/Lorne Smith/David Tickner/Chris Brown (94)

Career assists
14. Zach Currier/Robert Kent (69)
16. Rob Polumbo/Taylor Simmers (65)
18. Chris Brown (64)

Sean Cameron • Fr., M, No. 11
* second-line midfielder
* had a goal against Penn
* had first career two-goal game against Marist
* 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 a goal against Boston University
* had three ground balls against Rutgers and Brown
* had two goals on two shots against Binghamton

Sam English • Jr., M, No. 15
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season honorable mention All-American
* has 15 goals and 11 assists after moving from SSDM to a first-line midfielder
* third on the team in assists and fourth in 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 two goals and an assist against Marist
* had five points (2G, 3A) against Binghamton

Ben Finlay • Jr., D, No. 10
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season honorable mention All-American
* has started every game of his career
* has 12 caused turnovers for team lead
* had a caused turnover and four ground balls against Maryland
* had four caused turnovers against Georgetown
* had two caused turnovers against Yale

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
* has 13 goals and 12 assists
* is the 11^th Princeton freshman to reach double figures in goals and assists and is 14^th all-time among Princeton freshman scorers
* had two goals and two assists in the first four games; has 11 goals and 10 assists in the last six
* had four goals and two assists in second career start, against Rutgers, to earn Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors
* had three goals and an assist against Boston University
* had three assists against Marist

Freshman point scorers
10. Tom Schreiber 29
11. Ryan Ambler 28
12. Mark Kovler/ Whitney Hayes 26
14. Coulter Mackesy 25

Colin Mulshine • Fr., D, No. 43
* Princeton is 5-0 in the games he's started (Georgetown, Rutgers, Brown, Marist and Boston University)
* team has allowed 8.4 goals per game in his five starts and 12.8 in the five he didn't start
* helped hold the Hoya attack to two goals on 13 shots
* had two caused turnovers against Rutgers and Brown
* has four caused turnovers and 10 ground balls

Beau Pederson • Jr., SSDM, No. 23
* Princeton's top shortstick D middie
* had a goal against Boston University
* had a goal against Binghamton
* had an assist against Maryland and Penn
* had a caused turnover and three ground balls against Georgetown
* had an assist, caused turnover and two ground balls against Yale
* has five caused turnovers and 16 ground balls
* converted O middie who had 10 goals as a freshman

Erik Peters • Sr., G, No. 9
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season honorable mention All-American
* has a 10.69 goals-against average and .575 save percentage
* added to Tewaaraton Award watchlist
* has at least 14 saves in five of 10 games
* is fifth in the country in save percentage and 10th in the country in saves per game
* made 57 saves in his three-game stretch against 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
* had 14 saves and seven goals-against in win over Boston University
* 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 16 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 Penn
* had two goals against Rutgers
* had four goals against Marist
* had five goals against Monmouth in his first start

Tyler Sandoval • So., FO, No. 35
* has won 127 of 231 face-offs (.550)
* has best face-off percentage of any Princeton player since Matt Bailer in 1999 (.590)
* leading the Ivy League in face-off percentage
* leads team with 55 ground balls
* won 19 of 31 face-offs against Rutgers
* was 18 for 28 with 11 ground balls against Yale
* scored a goal against Brown five seconds after a Bears' goal; it's the fastest a Princeton player has ever scored a goal following an opponent's goal
* 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 33 goals and is second with 39 points
* is 11th in Division I in goals per game (second in the Ivy League)
* is the third Princeton player ever to reach 40 career goals in 15 or fewer games (Bill Chaires did so in 14 in 1973 and Michael Sowers did it in 15 in 2017)
* has at least two goals in nine games and at least three goals in five
* had a career-high six goals against Brown to earn Ivy League Player of the Week honors
* 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
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season third-team All-American
* 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 11 caused turnovers, second on the team, and 23 ground balls, most by a Princeton longstick
* 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
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season second-team All-American
* do-it-all midfielder who plays offense, defense and face-off wings
* has 18 goals and one assist
* ranks first in the Ivy League and fifth in Division I in shooting percentage (.500)
* second on team with 45 ground balls
* had two goals against Yale, the third-straight game with two goals
* had two goals, one assist and seven ground balls against Penn
* had two goals and three ground balls against Rutgers
* had two goals and with five ground balls against both Boston University and Brown
* had a goal and five ground balls against Georgetown
* had three goals against Monmouth and four goals against Binghamton
* had seven ground balls against Marist

Alexander Vardaro • Jr., M, No. 19
* 2022 Inside Lacrosse mid-season honorable mention All-American
* only starting midfielder from 2020 who is starting in midfield this year
* has 17 goals and 10 assists
* tied career high with four goals against Yale and also had two assists for career-high six points
* had three goals and two assists against Brown
* had three goals and two assists against Penn
* had two goals against Maryland
* had two assists against Georgetown
* team's second-leading career scorer (35-15-50)

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