Men's Lacrosse: Froccaro, Schreiber score 5 each in win

Playing its first true road game of the season, Princeton (3-2) fell behind quickly, as midfielders Kevin O’Neil and Mike Vigilante beat senior goalie Tyler Fiorito with unassisted goals in the first five minutes for the Wildcats (4-2). But after both sides exchanged possession a few times in a fast-paced game, the Tigers evened the tally in a 76-second span, getting goals from senior attackman Alex Capretta and sophomore midfielder Tom Schreiber.

O’Neil beat the end-of-quarter horn with a quick goal, but Princeton again answered with a pair of scores. Junior midfielder Jeff Froccaro found the net twice in less than two minutes, giving the visitors a 4-3 lead that they would never relinquish. Junior midfielder Tucker Shanley, who has scored in all five games this season, extended the Tigers’ run to three goals midway through the period.

After heading into halftime with a one-goal lead, a trio of Tigers found the net in the first six minutes of the third quarter. Schreiber and Froccaro added to their scoring totals in the opening minutes, and after a Villanova penalty gave the Tigers a man advantage, junior attackman Forest Sonnenfelt passed to Shanley for an easy goal to make the score 8-4.

From that point forward, the two teams traded goals consistently. Schreiber hit the back of the net twice more and assisted another score, while freshman midfielder Kip Orban got in on the action. Schreiber and Froccaro broke the back-and-forth action by engineering a 3-0 run to end the game. Both players netted their fifth goals in the final minutes, setting career highs while extending the final score to 14-8.

Fiorito, who stopped only two shots in a 9-8 loss to No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday, returned to his All-America form with 11 saves against eight goals. Villanova attackman Jack Rice, who entered the game as the Wildcats’ leading scorer, was held without a shot attempt by Princeton’s swarming defense.

The visitors won only 11 of 25 face-offs, continuing a trend in recent games. The Tigers attempted only one more shot on goal than the Wildcats, but Villanova goaltender Dan Gutierrez turned away only six of 20 attempts.

Princeton is now 3-2 on the season, with both defeats coming against top-10 teams by a combined three goals. The Tigers have outscored their opponents by an average of three goals per game, despite playing ranked opponents in four of five contests.

The Tigers open Ivy League play on Saturday, hosting Penn in a matchup that will be televised on ESPNU. The Quakers are 1-3 so far this season, losing 8-7 to Villanova on a last-second goal from 40 yards away last weekend.