Men's Lacrosse: Young guns lead renewed contender

The Tigers got off to a quick start thanks to the team’s young guns, as sophomore midfielder Tom Schreiber found freshman attackman Mike MacDonald for the game’s first goal less than four minutes after the opening faceoff. Schreiber, who was named last year’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year and a third-team All-America after leading the Tigers in both goals and assists, scored a goal of his own just two minutes later to give Princeton a 2-0 lead.

“It’s great to have someone like Tom Schreiber there,” MacDonald said. “He makes everything calm down.”

After a Hofstra goal and a nine-minute offensive drought for the Tigers, junior midfielder Tucker Shanley found the back of the net with only one second remaining in the first quarter, helping his team escape the period with a two-goal lead.

The two squads each picked up a goal in the second quarter, and the Tigers went into halftime with a 4-2 lead.

The excitement picked up in the third quarter, as each team netted three goals during a back-and-forth shootout. A Hofstra slashing penalty led to junior attackman Forest Sonnenfeldt’s man-up goal, and junior midfielder Jeff Froccaro followed suit to put the Tigers up 6-2 nearly halfway through the period. A two-minute, three-goal flurry by Hofstra pulled the game to a 6-5 score before Schreiber picked up his second goal of the day and extended Princeton’s lead back to two.

After three hard-fought quarters by both teams, the Tigers dominated the final period to pull away and solidify their blowout win. Princeton outhustled Hofstra to win eight of 12 ground ball battles, while outshooting the Pride 11 to four.

Schreiber started off the quarter with another goal to complete his hat trick, but he and the Tigers were far from content with the 8-5 lead. Schreiber went on to grab two assists in the quarter, including an impressive heads-up play where he scooped a ground ball following a blocked shot, and he then immediately flipped it to Froccaro for the junior’s second goal of the game. Princeton’s fourth-quarter assault on Hofstra’s net resulted in five goals by four different Tigers, leaving the Pride on the wrong end of a 12-6 split when the smoke finally cleared.

The Tigers won the important statistical battles of the day, creating 39 shot opportunities to Hofstra’s 20 and scrapping for 28 ground balls to their 19. Junior midfielder Bobby Lucas won 10 of his 16 faceoffs, while senior attackman Alex Capretta distributed the ball effectively en route to three assists. Shanley, Froccaro and senior attackman Mike Grossman all finished with two points, and sophomore attackman Will Himler came off the bench to chip in the team’s sixth assist of the day.

The impressive Tiger win helped the team gain recognition from the league after only its first game of the season. MacDonald’s three-goal performance, which included a nifty hockey-style one-timer from the ground, earned him the Ivy League’s Co-Rookie of the Week title. MacDonald, who took only four shots to finish with an incredible .750 shooting percentage, helped spark the Tigers’ 6-1 run with his back-to-back fourth-quarter goals.

MacDonald owes some of his success to Schreiber, who assisted him on two goals and was recognized as the Ivy League Player of the Week for this career-high seven-point day (three goals and four assists). Schreiber also led the team with five ground balls and a caused turnover during the win. MacDonald credited the sophomore for helping the team keep its composure when Hofstra began mounting its would-be comeback.

“I was really nervous. It was my first college game,” MacDonald said. “When it got close, we were able to settle it down.”

The Schreiber-MacDonald duo should be the players to watch all season as they work to find their niche in a newly potent Princeton offense. The Tigers will continue their quest for an NCAA bid this Tuesday, when they host Manhattan at 4 p.m.