Men's Lacrosse: Defense shines as Tigers rout Brown 13-2

An ironclad backfield held Brown to two goals through the first 30 minutes, but the visitors scored only four goals in a quiet half. The Princeton offense turned up the heat in the second half to close out Brown without allowing another goal.

The win is the fourth straight for the Tigers (6-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League), placing them at the top spot of the Ivy League along with Harvard and Cornell. Brown (3-5, 0-2) is among a group of three winless teams.

On a chilly overcast day, the Tigers walked out to a crowd of 600 in Providence, R.I., looking to carry their winning momentum after their marathon five-overtime victory at Yale. A year ago, Princeton needed four overtimes to beat Brown 5-4.

“Every Ivy League game is tight,” said senior goalie Tyler Fiorito, who made 16 saves. “You never know if your offense is going to score.”

But the Tigers started out somewhat flat-footed, scoring only when a fast-break pass from senior longstick midfielder John Cunningham set up sophomore midfielder Hunter deButts for a goal four minutes into the first quarter. Afterward, Brown drove much of the momentum for the rest of the period, shooting eight times to Princeton’s four. Fiorito kept the Bears at bay, making six saves during the period.

Princeton came back into the second period with movement around the crease. Senior attackman Alex Capretta knocked in two goals, adding to a goal from junior attackman Forest Sonnenfeldt.

With a minute left, the Bears built up some momentum by sneaking a goal past Fiorito’s clever tactics, but the Tigers still led 4-2 at the break.

The Tigers went into halftime looking to break off some of the Brown momentum to prevent the Bears from creeping into the match. They did just that, slotting home seven goals in the third period without allowing any.

“The first five minutes of any half are key,” Fiorito said. “This third quarter, we scored a few goals, extended our lead and got the win.”

Two minutes into the quarter, senior attackman Mike Grossman railed in a solo shot, putting Princeton up 5-2 and starting the offensive onslaught to pick apart the Brown defense. The Tigers, scoring nearly every two minutes, found themselves ahead 11-2 after the third quarter.

In the final period, the Tigers continued to hold off the Bears as two additional goals solidified the victory.

The match gives some credence to the strength of the Tigers’ defense, which has been expected to carry the brunt of the team’s efforts this year on the backs of three seniors who were drafted by Major League Lacrosse teams this year.

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“Hold them to two goals, and you are going to win every game,” Fiorito said.

Fiorito praised senior defenseman Chad Wiedmaier, one of the nation’s best man-to-man stoppers.

“We’re lucky to have Chad as a defender because we haven’t had to worry about sliding all year. He locks up his guy at the goal line,” Fiorito said. “Usually, there’s the chance the guy can slip under and get a chance at goal.”

The momentum from a blowout could be beneficial to the Tigers as they head into a critical nonleague match against No. 14 Syracuse in upstate New York next Saturday.