Strong defensive effort helps men's lax to 28th straight Ivy win

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The perfect weather for the men's lacrosse team's game against Brown on Saturday provided the ideal setting for a picnic. After gulping down three cupcakes in its last three games, however, Princeton had a lot more trouble choking down the Bears' challenge.

Brown (5-3 overall, 1-1 Ivy) was clearly a tougher club than Princeton's recent opponents, but the Tigers (5-1, 3-0) managed to keep the Bears down, winning 10-7.

At the start of the game, the wind picked up to sully the ideal conditions, bringing with it offensive difficulties for the Tigers. Gusts blew passes off line and made communication among players difficult. For the majority of the game, Princeton's offense looked disjointed, while the Brown defense did its share to prevent good shots.

After taking a 4-1 lead in the first quarter with the help of two goals from freshman attackman Owen Daly, the Tigers' scoring struggles surfaced in the second stanza. Princeton did not score in the period as Brown rallied to send the game into halftime tied, 4-4.

With Bears fans shouting, "You can beat this team," to their players, and with Princeton fans thinking that it might be true, the Tigers started the second half in need of a scoring break. That break would come from familiar sources, as successive extra-man opportunities produced nearly identical goals by sophomore attackman B.J. Prager. Junior attackman Matt Striebel assisted on all three of Prager's goals on the day, including this third-quarter pair. Both began with Striebel making accurate passes from behind the net, hitting Prager just in front of the goal for the quick shot.

'Bread and butter'

"[Striebel to Prager] is our bread and butter," Tierney said. "In the first half, they held us and B.J. didn't get anything, but that's who we are."

Senior midfielder Josh Sims followed Prager's scores with a remarkable underhanded shot that found net to put Princeton up three, 7-4, but the Tigers were by no means in control. Play ranged up and down the field throughout the third quarter, with both teams finding good opportunities to shoot.

After Brown pulled the score to 7-5 several minutes later, freshman defenseman Damien Davis provided the most electrifying moment of the game. He snatched up a loose ball next to the Tiger goal and raced across midfield to clear. Showing speed the Bears were unprepared for, Davis streaked to within shooting range of the Brown goal. When no defenders stepped over to stop him, Davis stopped and fired a low shot that beat Brown goalie Beret Dickson for what would prove to be the winning goal.

That the Tigers' eight goals would be enough for a win was not apparent at that moment, however. Princeton would need its share of luck to reach its 28th straight Ivy League victory. If anything, the wind helped the Tigers in the fourth quarter, as a number of Brown shots barely missed the net, several hitting the crossbar and post.

"It's very rare that I say this, but I thought we were a little lucky today," Tierney said.

Although it might not have been at its best throughout the game, Princeton's defense came up with a big stand when it needed one most. The Tigers' luck and skill were tested at the end of the fourth quarter, just after Brown tallied a goal to make it 9-7. Brown did not give up possession for a three-minute, 30-second span, but could not beat the Tiger defense. Princeton finally regained the ball with under two minutes to play.

Once back in control, Princeton ran the clock out, stopping possession only briefly when Striebel assisted Prager for the third time — bread and butter for a game that was no picnic.