The Tigers drew first blood in the contest when senior attackman Mike Grossman found freshman attackman Mike MacDonald for his 12th goal of the season. Junior midfielder Tucker Shanley and sophomore midfielder Tom Schreiber ripped off another two goals, and the Tigers found themselves sporting a 3-0 lead with less than seven-and-a-half minutes left in the first quarter.
The early Syracuse deficit would be the largest for any team that day however, as the game quickly became a neck-and-neck battle. Syracuse answered the Tigers with two quick goals, and an unassisted score by junior midfielder Jeff Froccaro just before the end of the quarter left Princeton ahead 4-2 to start the second period.
The second quarter revealed the three problematic areas that would eventually doom the Tigers — shots, clears and turnovers. After dominating the Orange 13-8 in attempted shots during the first period, the Tigers generated only five shots to Syracuse’s 11 in the second quarter. Princeton also missed three of its six clearing attempts in the period, while Syracuse converted on six of seven. The sloppy execution on clearing tries led to three of Princeton’s five second-quarter turnovers.
Moving the ball upfield did not become any easier for the Tigers as the game ensued, and Fiorito cited this as a key contributor to the loss.
“The story of the game was clearing,” he told GoPrincetonTigers.com. “In the second and third quarter, we would play good defense but couldn’t get the ball in the hands of our offense.”
Schreiber attributed some of the team’s difficulty in clearing to Syracuse’s tenacious defense and noted that the Orange was able to capitalize whenever the offense struggled.
“Syracuse did a great job riding [on clears] and taking advantage of our turnovers,” he said after the game.
The Tigers escaped the first half with a 5-4 lead thanks to accurate shooting and eight Fiorito saves, but they could not escape their lingering execution problems. They produced only three shots during the entire third quarter, while Syracuse fired 15. The few looks Princeton earned throughout the game were good ones, however, and they connected on two of these three shots to stave off the possession-dominating Orange for as long as possible.
The life support that Princeton’s shooters provided proved futile with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter, however, when Syracuse’s offense exploded to create the largest momentum swing of the day. The Orange won four consecutive faceoffs to score four straight goals, including four in the last two minutes of the quarter. The Tigers, who had led 7-5 just a few minutes earlier, entered the final period down 9-7.
Head coach Chris Bates marked the four-minute, 4-0 run as the game’s turning point.
“I think we let it get away [at that moment],” he said regarding the run. “It’s a game of momentum.”
Princeton quickly pulled the game back to within its grasp, though, as Froccaro scored his second goal of the day and junior attackman Forest Sonnenfeldt followed to tie the contest. The score remained 9-9 until Syracuse capitalized on a one-minute tripping penalty with a man-up goal. The Tigers won the ensuing face-off and earned a man-up opportunity of their own, but a Syracuse save robbed Schreiber of a hat trick goal and Princeton of a chance to tie.
With just under a minute to go, the Tigers recovered a ground ball, completed their clearing attempt and called a timeout to seek one final game-tying opportunity. The possession ended in Princeton’s 19th turnover of the day, and the Orange ran down the final few seconds to secure the 10-9 victory.
The heartbreaker leaves the Tigers (6-3 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) well above a .500 record with four games left in the season. More importantly, they remain undefeated in conference play with a chance to win the Ivy League. Fiorito, who finished the day with 16 saves and a save rate of 62 percent, said the team is too focused on the prospect of an Ivy League Championship to lament the tough defeat.
“We dont have time to dwell on the loss,” he said. “We need a win Tuesday to propel us into our final three Ivy League games.”
He and the Tigers will take on Rutgers at home on Tuesday night to begin their final stretch of the season.
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