Men's Lacrosse: Fiorito leads squad in difficult season

Injuries played a major role in the team’s struggles, particularly on offense. Sophomore midfielder, second-team All America and reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year Mike Chanenchuk broke his collarbone in the fall and left the program for the year. Senior attackman Jack McBride reaggravated a groin injury early in the season and did not play again. The two-time All America only appeared in two games.

Without Chanenchuk and McBride, Princeton’s offense was anemic. The Tigers scored more than nine goals only once and finished with an average of 7.08 goals per game.

Princeton opened the season with an 11-9 loss to Hofstra. The Tigers led 4-1 before letting the Pride back into the game. This pattern became a theme of the season as Princeton often took early leads only to let them get away. Princeton won only six of 22 faceoffs, another theme of a season that ended with a team faceoff win percentage of .407.

The Tigers appeared to steady the ship a week later with an 8-3 victory over Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays came into the game averaging over 14 goals per game but were stifled by great defensive play by Princeton. The teams took opposite directions after the game: the Blue Jays recovered and entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 3 seed while the Tigers lost their next four straight.

Against North Carolina, Princeton let an early lead slip away in a 9-5 loss. Upstart Villanova visited over spring break and surprised the Tigers with a 10-9 win. Princeton then suffered one of its most crushing defeats of the season, an 8-3 loss at Penn, a team to which the Tigers had not lost since 1989. Princeton then fell 8-7 in overtime to Yale at home after leading 5-2 at halftime.

Princeton halted its skid by winning three of its next four games, scoring wins over Brown, Rutgers and Dartmouth. The Tigers’ only loss in the period was a spirited 7-5 defeat to No. 1 Syracuse.

With two games left, Princeton’s postseason hopes remained alive. But the Tigers were out of punches, falling 9-8 to Harvard at home and 9-7 at Cornell to end the season.

The highlight of the season was undoubtedly junior goalie Tyler Fiorito. Heralded as the best goalie recruit in the nation coming out of high school, Fiorito had two solid seasons in his first two years with the program. This year, he broke out. He played every minute of every game for the Tigers, finishing with an astronomical .615 save percentage and a 7.52 goals-against average. Most importantly, he was at his best against the nation’s best.

He saved nine of 12 shots on goal against Johns Hopkins. Against then-No. 10 North Carolina, he finished with 14 saves. His 10 saves on 17 shots against Syracuse kept the Tigers in the game.

With the season on the line, Fiorito was completely locked in. He finished with 16 saves and nine goals allowed against Harvard. Against Cornell, a team that boasted the best offense in the nation, Fiorito put on a show for the ages. He finished with 20 saves, keeping the Tigers in the game until the very end.

In addition to Fiorito, the rest of the Tigers’ defense played well. Junior defenseman Chad Wiedmaier, senior defenseman Long Ellis and junior longstick midfielder John Cunningham each received All-Ivy recognition. Wiedmaier held Cornell attackman Rob Pannell, perhaps the nation’s finest player, to two goals on 13 shots. One of Pannell’s goals came in an unsettled situation late in the game when he was not being guarded by Wiedmaier.

Another highlight for the Tigers was freshman midfielder Tom Schreiber. Schreiber led the team in both goals and assists, finishing with 16 scores and 13 assists. His shot percentage of .276 was second-best on the team.

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Looking forward, Schreiber will be the team’s most potent offensive weapon. Princeton loses senior attackman Chris McBride and senior midfielder Tyler Moni to graduation but returns many young players who saw playing time this season.

Defensively, Princeton loses Ellis but returns all its other major contributors. Ellis was a standout player for the Tigers, holding North Carolina attackman Billy Bitter — considered by some to be the best attackman in the nation — scoreless.

The sad truth about Princeton lacrosse is that the team has not had a championship offense in many years. The Tigers have also struggled on the faceoff for the better part of the last decade. While the team has continued to field great defenses, defense alone does not win championships in lacrosse. In the future, the Tigers will need to improve offensively and on faceoffs if they ever hope to relive the glory years of the 1990s.