SYRACUSE LACROSSE REMAINS UNDEFEATED, HOLDS OFF PRINCETON, 7-5
PRINCETON, N.J. – Top-ranked Syracuse (9-0) extended its winning streak to nine games with a 7-5 win against Princeton (2-6) before a crowd of 5,401 Saturday, April 9 at Princeton Stadium. The Orange held the Tigers scoreless in the fourth quarter and scored twice in the final period to emerge victorious.
Senior Stephen Keogh (Toronto, Ontario) recorded his 19th career hat trick, leading the Orange with three goals, including the game-winner with 7:30 left in regulation. Classmate Jeremy Thompson (Nedrow, N.Y.) had two points (1g, 1a) in the victory.
Playing without injured star John Lade (Randolph, N.J.), Syracuse also received a tremendous performance from its defense Saturday. The Orange gave up only five goals, the third time in the last four outings Syracuse held its opponent to five goals or less. It killed all five of Princeton’s man-up opportunities, including a one-minute penalty against sophomore Brian Megill (Clark, N.J.) for slashing late in the fourth quarter while clinging to a 6-5 lead.
Redshirt sophomore David Hamlin (New Hartford, N.Y.) made his first career start in place of Lade. He drew Princeton attackman Luke Armour as his primary assignement and held him to one goal for the game.
It appeared Princeton would provide little resistance to Syracuse early on. The Orange opened up a quick 2-0 lead on goals by senior Josh Amidon (LaFayette, N.Y.) and Thompson in first two minutes of the game. After Armour got the Tigers on the board at the 8:11 mark, senior Joel White (Cortland, N.Y.) delivered a bounce pass to an open Keogh for a layup with 1:43 remaining the first to push the SU lead to 3-1.
In the second quarter, Princeton’s Chris McBride scored unassisted with 8:44 left in the half to pull the Tigers within one, 3-2. But the Orange defense blanked the Tigers for the rest of the period, and Syracuse got goals from Keogh and junior Tommy Palasek (Rocky Point, N.Y.) to go up 5-2 at the half.
However, Princeton refused to left Syracuse pull away. Mike Grossman and McBride found the cage less than a minute apart to reduce the Orange lead to 5-4 with 9:24 left in the third quarter. Tom Schreiber made it three straight Tiger goals when he found the cage with 29 seconds to go in the period to tie the game at five.
Princeton’s defense held the Orange scoreless for a stretch of 26:55, including the entire third quarter. Goalie Tyler Fiorito made five of his 10 saves in the third frame to give the Tigers’ offense an opportunity to knot the score. It wasn’t until redshirt sophomore Steve Ianzito (Clay, N.Y.) found Keogh inside for a 6-5 SU lead with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter that the Orange finally broke the scoring drought.
That was all the Syracuse defense needed. The Tigers generated just two shots the rest of the game.
Junior Kevin Drew (Katonah, N.Y.) put the finishing touches on the win, firing a shot into the empty Princeton net from 12 yards out while falling to the ground with 1:17 remaining to produce the final score. Fiorito was caught out of position on the play when he left the cage in an attempt to force turnover.
Senior goalie John Galloway (Syracuse, N.Y.) recorded six saves against the Tigers to earn his 53rd career victory. His save on Jeff Froccaro’s shot while Princeton was man-up with 2:36 to play in the fourth quarter gained possession for the Orange and ultimately led to Drew’s insurance tally.
McBride’s two goals paced the Tigers. Schreiber also finished with two points on one goal and one assist.
The Orange held the advantage at the faceoff X for the first time in six games. The Orange won eight draws to five for Princeton. Thompson led the way, winning five of his eight attempts. Syracuse also owned the advantage in ground balls, 29-26.
Syracuse returns home to the Carrier Dome on Tuesday, April 12 for a 7 p.m. showdown with Cornell. The game will be televised live locally on Time Warner Sports.
Game Notes: Ianzito’s assist on Keogh’s game-winner was the first of his college career … Keogh has nine career game-winning goals, including four this season … Saturday’s game was the 200th of John Desko’s head coaching career … It also marked the first time in the 23 meetings between Princeton and Syracuse since 1992 that one of the participants was unranked at the time of the game … Princeton’s 2001 NCAA title team celebrated its 10th anniversary Saturday and was recognized in a ceremony at halftime.
- SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: NEW YORK’S COLLEGE TEAM -
E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. – No. 3 Syracuse (7-1) squares off against No. 5 Princeton (7-1) in the nightcap of the Konica Minolta Big City Classic at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 10 at New Meadowlands Stadium. The lacrosse tripleheader is the first sporting event to take place at the new home of the NFL’s Giants and Jets. The Orange carries a five-game winning streak into the contest, while Princeton has won its last three.
Saturday’s game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU. Fans can also hear the action live on the radio home of the Orange – TK 99 (99.5 FM). Live streaming audio of the radio broadcast is available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All-Access.
ABOUT THE BIG CITY CLASSIC
This is the second year of the Big City Classic, an event organized by Inside Lacrosse. It features three games. No. 10 Hofstra and Delaware kick things off at 1 p.m. with No. 1 Virginia and No. 2 North Carolina following at 4 p.m. No. 3 Syracuse and No. 5 Princeton is the nightcap. They will take the field at 6:30 p.m. The last two games are televised live on ESPNU and feature the top four teams in the NIKE/Inside Lacrosse Poll.
NOTE: The Syracuse Athletic Communications Office uses the USILA Coaches Poll to reflect teams rankings at the time of the game. Princeton is No. 5 in this week’s coaches poll.
The same six teams took part in the inaugural event last season at Giants Stadium. The tripleheader drew an NCAA regular-season record crowd for a lacrosse-only event (22,308). Princeton won last year’s matchup with Syracuse, 12-8.
ORANGE IN THE APPLE
In addition to spreading the game of lacrosse, the Orange’s participation in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic is one of the many steps taken by SU Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross to brand the Orange as “New York’s College Team.” His initiatives have been heavily focused in the New York metro area. Consider:
The Orange football team will play three games at New Meadowlands Stadium in the coming years (USC in 2012; Notre Dame in 2014 and 2016).
“Orange is in the Apple” campaign. Started in 2005 and includes strategic advertisements and business partnerships in and around New York City.
The men’s basketball team has an overall record of 87-78 all-time at Madison Square Garden. The team played three times there in 2009-10 and won the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in November.
Head football coach Doug Marrone is a native of the Bronx and was an assistant coach with the New York Jets from 2002-05.
Sixteen players on the Orange lacrosse roster hail from the New York City area, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The New York metro area is one of Syracuse University’s largest alumni bases with approximately 30,000 strong in the region, including several former men’s lacrosse players.
The last two NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Players work in the area. Mike Leveille (2008) works for the accounting firm KPMG in Manhattan and Kenny Nims (2009) is employed by NewEdge USA, a brokerage firm also located in Manhattan.
FILLING THE TROPHY CASE
Overall, Syracuse and Princeton have combined to win 16 of the last 22 NCAA Championships. The two teams have played one another for the national title four times (1992, 2000, 2001, 2002). The two sides split those meetings with SU winning in 2000 and 2002 and the Tigers emerging victorious in 1992 and 2001.
MORE ON THE SYRACUSE-PRINCETON SERIES
The Orange has won five of the last seven meetings with the Tigers and holds a 16-9 advantage in the all-time series. Ten of the 25 meetings in the series have come in the NCAA playoffs. In 1999, the two clubs played an epic four-overtime game won by the Tigers, 15-14, which stands as the longest game in SU history.
X MARKS THE SPOT
Syracuse leads the BIG EAST and ranks fifth nationally in faceoff winning percentage. The Orange has won 59.1 percent (120-203) of its draws this year. The Orange boast the top two faceoff men in the BIG EAST. Junior Jeremy Thompson (Nedrow, N.Y.) leads the conference and ranks fourth nationally (.616, 53-86). Senior Gavin Jenkinson (Stuart, Fla.) is second in the league and 11th nationally (.592, 58-98).
BALANCE IS THE KEY
A total of 16 Syracuse players have at least one goal this season and 17 members of the Orange roster have recorded at least one point. Seven players have at least 10 points and seven have at least nine goals. Senior Chris Daniello (Cross River, N.Y.) is SU’s points leader with 24. Junior Stephen Keogh (Toronto, Ontario) leads the way with 22 goals.
KILLING THEM SOFTLY
Junior midfielder Jovan Miller (Syracuse, N.Y.) has been a steady leader for the Orange all season. Offensively, he’s quietly scored 12 points, including nine goals, as a member of the first midfield. He’s also one of the team’s top defensive middies. Miller has six goals in the last three games, equaling his career best with a pair of tallies at Hobart (March 23), versus Villanova (March 29) and against Albany (April 3). In the Albany game, Miller matched his career high with three points.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Under the direction of first-year coach Chris Bates, the Tigers are off to a 7-1 start. Princeton’s only blemish is a one-goal loss to No. 2 North Carolina on March 16. Bates replaced Bill Tierney last summer after Tierney accepted the head coaching job at Denver.
The Tigers boast four double-digit goal scorers led by cousins Jack and Chris McBride. Both are attackman. Jack McBride leads the team with 18 goals, while Chris has 14. Middies Mike Chanenchuk (14g) and Jeff Froccaro (11g) round out Princeton’s double-digit goal scorers. Attackman Rob Engelke leads the club with 13 assists.
Defensively, Long Ellis has 17 ground balls and leads the squad with 13 caused turnovers. Goalie Tyler Fiorito has 78 saves and sports an 8.62 goals-against average. Fiorito tallied 15 saves against the Orange last season.
*************************************
Blue Jays Fall to 3-1 With Overtime Loss
BALTIMORE, MD – Scott MacKenzie scored his only goal of the game 59 seconds into overtime to lift seventh-ranked Princeton to an 11-10 victory over fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins in the second game of the 2010 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium. The win, Princeton’s second straight against the Blue Jays, lifts the Tigers to 2-0 on the season, while Johns Hopkins slips to 3-1 and had its nine-game regular-season winning streak snapped.
Princeton appeared to have the game in hand with possession late in the fourth quarter behind the Blue Jay goal on a restart, but Blue Jay goalie Michael Gvozden forced a turnover and JHU quickly worked the ball up field to senior midfielder Michael Kimmel, who carried into the Princeton zone with a full head of steam and blew a shot past Princeton goalie Tyler Fiorito to tie the game at 10-10 with 14 seconds remaining. As it would turn out, the Blue Jays never had possession again.
Princeton won the faceoff after Kimmel’s goal, but couldn’t score in the final seconds, but the Tigers won the only faceoff in overtime and worked the ball to junior Jack McBride at the top of the box to Gvozden’s right. He skipped a pass through traffic to MacKenzie, who was parked just above the goal line to Gvozden’s left. With time and room, he stepped into a shot and slipped it just inside the near post for the game-winner.
Princeton led 7-4 at the half as McBride scored all three of his goals before halftime and the Tigers held the Blue Jays scoreless for the final 18:50 before the break. After Hopkins took a 4-3 lead on a Nate Matthews goal with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter, Jack McBride and Chris McBride scored back-to-back goals to give Princeton a 5-4 lead early in the second quarter. A Tyler Moni goal 31 seconds after Jack McBride’s tally made it 6-4 and Jack McBride accounted for the 7-4 halftime score.
It took more than five minutes for the Blue Jays to gain an offensive possession in the third quarter, but they then needed less than two minutes after that to pull within one as attackmen Kyle Wharton and Tom Duerr struck for back-to-back goals midway through the period to draw the Blue Jays to within 7-6.
An opportunisitic Jeff Froccaro goal for Princeton – he swept in a loose ball in front of the goal after a nifty Gvozden save – gave the Tigers a two-goal lead back, but JHU answered seven seconds later on Steven Boyle’s 14th goal of the season and senior midfielder Max Chautin used a nice hesitation dodge from the side to get inside his defender and handcuffed Fiorito from seven yards out to draw the Blue Jays even at 8-8.
Frocarro, who scored three goals last week, added his third and fourth goals of the game to give the Tigers a 10-8 lead with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but JHU freshman Zach Palmer tallied a highlight-reel backhanded goal with 4:44 remaining and Kimmel fired home the game-tying goal just over four minutes later. That set the stage for MacKenzie’s game-winner, which gave Princeton its first back-to-back wins against Johns Hopkins since 2000 and 2001.
Froccaro led Princeton with four goals and grabbed eight of the Tigers’ 24 ground balls while winning 10-of-17 faceoffs. Jack McBride added three goals and one assist and Rob Engelke chipped in with three assists for the Tigers, who also got eight saves from Fiorito and held advantages in shots (37-27), ground balls (24-23) and faceoffs (13-12).
Boland and Duerr led the Blue Jays with two goals apiece, while Kimmel (1g, 2a) and Boyle (1g, 1a) were also multi-point scorers for the Blue Jays. Gvozden posted10 saves for the Blue Jays, who out-scored Princeton 6-3 in the second half, but never led again after Matthews’ goal late in the first quarter was answered by Jack McBride’s goal with one second remaining in the period.
#7 Princeton (2-0) 4-3-2-1-1/11
#5 Johns Hopkins (3-1) 4-0-4-2-0/10
Goals: P: Froccaro-4, J. McBride-3, Moni-2, C. McBride-1, MacKenzie-1. J: Boland-2, Duerr-2, Boyle, Wharton, Matthews. Kimmel, Palmer, Chautin. Assists: P: Engelke-3, Chanenchuk-2, C. McBride-2, J. McBride-1. J: Kimmel-2, Boyle-1, Donovan-1, Greeley-1. Saves: P: Fiorito-8. J: Gvozden-10. Shots: P-37. J-27. EMO: P: 0-for-0. J: 1-for-1. Attendance: 19,742.
DU MEN’S LACROSSE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Monday, June 8, 2009
CONTACT: Nicole Dupes, Assistant Media Relations Director,
303-871-4490, 954-478-2090, nicole.dupes@du.edu
Tierney comes to DU with a 272-93 (.745) all-time coaching record
DENVER – Legendary Princeton men’s lacrosse coach Bill Tierney has been named the head men’s lacrosse at the University of Denver, Vice Chancellor for Athletics and Recreation and Ritchie Center Operations Peg Bradley-Doppes announced today.
During his 22 seasons with Princeton, Tierney led the Tigers to six NCAA championships, eight NCAA championship games, 10 NCAA Final Four appearances and 14 Ivy League championships. He compiled a career record of 238-86 at Princeton and has a career collegiate record of 272-93 for an impressive .745 winning percentage.
“We are thrilled to announce the hiring of Bill Tierney as the newest men’s lacrosse coach at the University of Denver,” Bradley-Doppes said. “He is a tremendous addition to our coaching family and someone who will elevate our program into a national contender. Bill is one of the best coaches of any sport at any level and is highly regarded in collegiate lacrosse. He demands a lot of his student-athletes on the playing field, as well as in the classroom, and is the perfect coach to take our program to the next level.”
His impact on the student-athletes at Princeton has resulted in 26 first-team All-Americans, 73 first-team All-Ivy League selections, seven Ivy League Players of the Year, six Ivy League Rookies of the Year and over 20 USILA Scholar All-Americas. He has recruited and coached two winners of the Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award as the national player of the year (David Morrow in 1993 and Scott Bacigalupo in 1994).
“I would like to thank Princeton for 22 years of support and happiness, and for the ability to take this program to the level that it’s at now,” Tierney said. “I’d also like to thank the University of Denver for giving me this wonderful opportunity to start this new chapter in my life. Everyone from the Board of Trustees to Chancellor Robert Coombe and Peg Bradley-Doppes has been absolutely great during this entire process. I am looking forward to helping the DU men’s lacrosse program reach new heights.”
In 1992, Tierney won the Morris Touchstone Award as the Division I Coach of the Year to go along with the Division III Coach of the Year honor he received in 1983 at RIT. He was elected to the Long Island Chapter Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1994 and the New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1999.
Outside of his collegiate coaching honors, Tierney has coached the United States to the World Championship in 1998, and was inducted into the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame as part of the 2002 class.
Tierney replaces Jamie Munro, who resigned on May 7 after posting a 91-70 mark in 11 seasons. Tierney will begin as head coach of the Pioneers effective July 1, 2009.
- PIONEERS -
E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. – No. 5 Princeton (8-1) was efficient on offense and played solid defense in a 12-8 defeat of second-ranked Syracuse (7-2) in the inaugural Big City Classic at Giants Stadium on Saturday, April 4. The game was the centerpiece of a tripleheader presented by Inside Lacrosse, and the loss ended SU’s five-game winning streak.
The Tigers never trailed and scored on 38.7 percent (12-31 of their shots Saturday. Defensively, they held the Orange scoreless for stretches of 10 minutes, 12:50 and 14:59 in the contest. The Tigers also got a career performance from freshman goalie Tyler Fiorito, who made a personal-best 15 saves.
When the Orange offense did get going, it was seniors Kenny Nims, Pat Perritt and sophomore Stephen Keogh that led the way. They each scored twice in the contest. Senior Matt Abbott also contributed a goal and an assist for Syracuse. In addition, Abbott collected a career-best 10 ground balls in the game.
Despite the offensive struggles, the Orange held the advantage in shots (39-31), ground balls (40-25) and faceoffs (15-8). Sophomore Josh Knight had a career day in the faceoff circle, winning a personal-best 13 draws on 18 attempts (.722).
The two teams traded goals to start the game with Jack McBride scoring twice for the Tigers and Abbott having a hand in SU’s first two tallies. Abbott answered McBride’s opening goal with an unassisted score at the five-minute mark of the first quarter to tie the game and get the Orange on the board. After another McBride goal pushed Princeton in front, 2-1, Abbott dished to Keogh for a goal at the 1:17 mark to tie the game at 2-2.
A 3-0 run by the Tigers gave them a 5-2 margin with 3:38 to go in the first half. Syracuse stopped the run with an extra-man goal by Nims to cut the Princeton lead to 5-3 at the break.
The Orange looked to be gaining momentum, tying the game at 5-5 on back-to-back unassisted goals by Perritt and Nims to begin the third quarter, but Princeton answered right back with two scores to reclaim a two-goal margin, 7-5. Perritt cut the lead to one with 5:43 left in the third period on his second goal of the afternoon.
After a man-down goal by Brendan Reilly gave the Tigers an 8-6 advantage, the Orange stayed within striking distance when Hardy fed Keogh for a goal to make it 8-7 Princeton at the 2:11 mark of the third quarter.
Keogh’s goal proved to be SU’s last for more than 14 minutes and Tigers outscored the Orange, 4-0, during that time to put the game away. Mark Kovler and Rich Sgalardi combined for all four goals in the run with each player scoring twice. Kovler’s second goal in the spurt gave the Tigers its largest lead, 12-7, with 2:26 left in regulation. Freshman Kevin Drew found the cage 13 seconds later to end the SU scoring drought, but Princeton held the Orange without a score the rest of the way to earn the four-goal win.
Sgalardi (2g, 2a) and Kovler (3g, 1a) led the Tigers with four points apiece. McBride also had three goals for Princeton and Scott MacKenzie contributed a goal and two assists.
Syracuse returns to action on Tuesday, April 7 against another Ivy League opponent. The Orange hosts Cornell at 7 p.m.in the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised live on Time Warner 26 in the Syracuse area.
Game Notes: Sgalardi was named the player of the game in a vote by the media … The Orange’s 7-5 halftime deficit marked the first time this season SU trailed at the half … Nims extended his consecutive point streak to 25 games … Fifteen of Perritt’s 16 points this season have come in the last five games … Abbott has 18 ground balls in the last two games (9.0 per game) … Syracuse is now 0-3 in events organized by Inside Lacrosse.
|
