The NCAA News - News and Features

June 1, 1998

Princeton fuels thoughts of I men's lacrosse dynasty with 15-5 victory

BY MARTY BENSON
STAFF WRITER

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey -- A well-known tiger used to roar, "They're grrreat" in praise of cereal. Tony could say the same about his kin from Princeton. Maybe even, "They're grrreatest."

For the second consecutive year in the Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship game, the Tigers staged a performance that conjured up the term "dynasty." Princeton pummeled Maryland as it did in 1997, this time by a count of 15-5. The championship, won May 25 at Rutgers, was the Tigers' third straight and fifth in the last seven years.

The 22-goal combined winning margin in the consecutive-year victories (the score was 19-7 last year) was the largest in the 28-year history of the event. Next best was the 1989-1990 Syracuse repeat, when the Orangemen won their title games by a combined 13 goals.

Although the numbers say dynasty, one of Princeton's key figures, senior attackman Jesse Hubbard, who had four goals and one assist, and was named to the all-tournament team, isn't buying that -- not yet, anyway.

"We certainly appreciate the success of the past," said Hubbard, who scored at least three goals in all three of the Tigers' 1998 tournament games. "But dynasties are something that happened 20 years ago. This is still happening. Who knows, maybe it's not a dynasty. Maybe it's just a good run."

Whatever you want to call it, Hubbard, along with classmates and fellow attackmen Jon Hess and Chris Massey, set the offensive pace during the reign.

Maybe Maryland coach Dick Edell, who fell to 0-3 in championship games, summed up Princeton's success best.

"I'm in awe of their team a little bit," Edell said. "They do the right things and they do them so often. They've recovered from some tough deficits. They have a wonderful program. They've raised the bar for everyone to try to get to and obviously we haven't gotten there yet."

As lopsided as the final score was, the game didn't get out of hand until the second half. The fifth-seeded Terrapins dominated the first half statistically, outshooting Princeton, 25-14, and establishing a 5-1 face-off advantage, but managed only a 3-3 tie at intermission (the first half-time deadlock in title-game history). Still, the Terrapins were confident.

"Obviously (this loss) is a downer, but we felt very good at the half," Edell said. "We had played as solid a defense as I think we're capable of playing. (Giving up just) three goals in a half is a hell of an effort against a team like that."

Princeton wrote the book on such efforts. The Tigers owed much of the credit for avoiding a first-half disadvantage during the statistical thrashing to an unlikely hero, goalie Corey Popham, who made nine saves in the half, six in the second quarter alone. The junior, who was pulled from the 16-14 quarterfinal win over Duke in favor of coach Bill Tierney's freshman son Trevor, finished with 18 saves and collected the tournament's most outstanding player honor.

"The key thing after I (removed him from the Duke game) was what Corey did," said the Tigers coach, who won his 18th tournament game, tied for third on the all-time list. "Today he convinced me of what I thought I already knew. He was just a guy who had a bad day (against Duke). The decision to start (Corey) today wasn't a father-son thing or a freshman-junior thing. We knew he was our starter."

The goalie's vintage performance couldn't have come at a more opportune time. In the closing seconds of the Tigers' 11-10 semifinal win over Syracuse two days earlier, Princeton lost star senior defenseman Christian Cook to a knee injury. That came after the all-tournament selection helped his teammates do the impossible -- hold Syracuse senior attackman Casey Powell without a goal for the first time in his career. Cook even scored a goal of his own.

Jason Farrell and Ryan Mollett took over in Cook's absence. Despite the substitution, statistically at least, the Tigers defense was even more stifling. The five goals Princeton surrendered was the lowest total allowed since 1985, when Johns Hopkins held Syracuse to four.

"When our kids come (to Princeton) in September, we show them our defensive system," coach Tierney said. "When you have a guy go down, you just take another piece of the puzzle and insert him in there. Jason Farrell and Ryan Mollett did their jobs."

The Tigers still needed some offense to win. They got all they needed from the get-go in the second half, scoring five unanswered goals, two from Hess, last year's most outstanding player. The repeat all-tournament selection closed his brilliant career with two goals and a game-high four assists.

Princeton stretched its lead in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Terrapins, 7-1, in the final stanza, aided by the man-advantages created by a rash of penalties, to account for the final margin.

As good as the Tigers' defense was in the first half, it was better in the second. Maryland's two-goal output was the lowest in a half since 1992, when Princeton held Syracuse to a pair in the first half en route to a 10-9 win and its first title.

The second-seeded Tigers finished the year with a 14-1 record, losing to Virginia in the second game of the season, 9-7, a setback that broke a 29-game winning streak. Maryland fell to 14-3.

Midfielder Josh Sims joined teammates Popham, Hess, Cook and Hubbard on the all-tournament team. Maryland representatives included attackman Scott Hochstadt, midfielder Brian Haggerty and defenseman Mike Bonanni. Syracuse's Casey and Ryan Powell also were selected.

In the semifinals, Syracuse held a 10-7 lead over Princeton with 14:22 left before the Tigers stormed back to tie the score at 10 after Seamus Grooms' second straight goal. Princeton claimed the lead for the first time since the first quarter when Sims scored an unassisted goal with 5:14 left. A potential game-tying shot by Matt Cutia went wide as the clock ran out.

Orangemen coach Roy Simmons Jr., who led Syracuse to five Division I championships during 28 seasons as head coach, announced his retirement after the game.

Maryland toppled top-ranked Loyola (Maryland), 19-8, in the other semifinal. The Terps held a 10-1 lead at half time, then increased their advantage to 16-3 with 6:45 left in the third quarter. The closest the Greyhounds could get after that was 18-8 with 4:40 left.

SEMIFINALS

Maryland -- 5 -- 5 -- 7 -- 2--19

Loyola (Md.) -- 0 -- 1 -- 4 -- 3-- 8

Maryland scoring -- Matt Hahn 5, Scott Hochstadt 4, Bob Hanna 3, Andrew Whipple 2, Bill Ruhl 2, Chris Malone 1, Frank Radin 1, Erik Osberg 1.

Loyola (Md.) scoring -- Tim O'Shea 3, Mark Frye 2, Gewas Schindler 1, Bobby Horsey 1, Todd Vizcarrondo 1.

Saves: Maryland -- Kevin Healy 17, Pat McGinnis 3; Loyola (Md.) -- Jim Brown 8, Jay Born 0. Attendance: 21,194.

Syracuse -- 3 -- 3 -- 3 -- 1--10

Princeton -- 3 -- 1 -- 2 -- 5--11

Syracuse scoring -- Matt Cutia 5, Chris Cordisco 1, Devin Darcangelo 1, Jeff Lowe 1, John Mathews 1, Ryan Powell 1.

Princeton scoring -- Jesse Hubbard 3, Josh Sims 3, Seamus Grooms 2, Lorne Smith 2, Christian Cook 1.

Shots: Syracuse 34, Princeton 42. Saves: Syracuse -- Jason Gebhardt 16; Princeton -- Corey Popham 9. Attendance: 21,194.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Maryland -- 1 -- 2 -- 1 -- 1-- 5

Princeton -- 2 -- 1 -- 5 -- 7--15

Maryland scoring -- Scott Hochstadt 2, Brian Zeller 1, Frank Radin 1, Bob Hanna 1.

Princeton scoring -- Jesse Hubbard 4, Chris Massey 3, Lorne Smith 2, Jon Hess 2, John Wynne 1, Josh Sims 1, Seamus Grooms 1, Ben Heyworth 1.

Shots: Maryland 45, Princeton 38. Saves: Maryland -- Kevin Healy 8, Pat McGinnis 0; Princeton -- Corey Popham 17, Neal DiBello 1, Trevor Tierney 0. Attendance: 17,225.