Men's Lacrosse: Princeton falls to Syracuse in close loss

Princeton (2-6 overall, 1-2 Ivy League) entered the game against Syracuse (9-0) with one win in its previous five outings, a hard-fought four-overtime victory over Ivy League rival Brown.

The Tigers had a slow start during the first period. Syracuse opened the game with two goals in the first 90 seconds, bringing to mind the Orange’s 13-4 victory at the meeting in New Meadowlands Stadium last year.

Sophomore attackman Luke Armour responded five minutes later to cut the lead to one goal, but Syracuse attackman Stephen Keogh shot into the cage with two minutes left to end the period with a 3-1 lead.

Princeton then gained some momentum when senior attack and co-captain Chris McBride found a fold in the Syracuse defense for an unassisted goal seven minutes into the quarter. But the Orange held off the Princeton recovery again when Keogh found the back of the net after a pass from teammate Jeremy Thompson, giving the Orange a 4-2 lead.

Matters looked worse for the Tigers as the Orange were able to convert a faceoff win into another goal and extend the lead to three.

Junior goalie Tyler Fiorito had only three saves during the first half but defended the Princeton cage for the second half, stopping seven shots and giving his team a chance to rally.

The third period started off with an offensive onslaught by the Orange during which Fiorito had to protect the cage for three saves over the course of four minutes. The Tigers turned the tide, however, and put their own pressure on Syracuse goalie John Galloway. Over the course of the next seven minutes, junior attackman Mike Grossman, McBride and freshman midfielder Tom Schreiber all found the back of the cage on returns from Syracuse advances, tying the game at five goals apiece.

Princeton held off Syracuse for 27 scoreless minutes, but the Orange finally broke through. Keogh scored his third goal of the match on Fiortio after drawing a mismatch.

The Tigers had a man-up opportunity afterward but were unable to convert for a goal, and eventually Syracuse attackman Kevin Drew scored the game’s final goal in the last two minutes of play.

“It was a great chance to play against a great team and to build some momentum,” Fiorito said. “Any time we play in such a tight game against such a good opponent as the season goes on is a good sign that we should play well later in the season.”

Fiorito explained that that he was happy with the team’s play on Saturday. “The defense hadn’t done much with the zone before, but I think it worked out for us,” he said. “Our offense also played well [in the last quarter]. We let in a goal, but there were a few man-up situations where we should have come through.”

To come so close to victory against the nation’s best squad comes as some good news to a team that has been plagued with injuries. The Tigers have seen 12 members of the squad miss time due to injuries this season, nearly half of which were season-ending.

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With a 2-6 overall record and only four regular-season games remaining, the Tigers’ only path to the NCAA tournament lies in winning the Ivy League tournament. Only four of the conference’s seven teams will qualify, so the Tigers — currently in a four-way tie for fourth place at 1-2 — need to win at least two, if not three, of their final three Ivy League games.

Fiorito said that despite all the difficulties this season, the Tigers are still looking to a postseason. “Our goal is still to win the Ivy League tournament and to go to the NCAA tournament, and the only way we can do that will be winning, starting on Tuesday.”

Princeton will travel to face intrastate rival Rutgers on Tuesday.