Division I Men :      May 28, 2001 [ The Game Story]
Syracuse 9 Princeton 10 Scoring: Scoring: Mike Powell Spencer Wright Brian Solliday Pat Hogan Liam Banks Josh Coffman Tom Hardy (2, 2) (2, 2) (2, 0) (2, 0) (0, 1) (1, 0) (0, 1) Bj Prager Matt Striebel Ryan Boyle Brad Dumont Owen Daly Dan Clark Rob Torti (4, 0) (2, 2) (0, 3) (2, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) (1, 0) Saves: Saves: Rob Mulligan 14  (0.583) Trevor Tierney 14  (0.609) Current Record :     (13-3) Current Record :     (14-1) Team Page For 2001 Team Page For 2001       The Game Story:

Forget Miss New Jersey, the National Anthem this time was belted by the wife of Men's Committee Chairman Bryan Matthews; it was embellished a little too much, but a good job regardless. ESPN was in the house, but unfortunately the house wasn't packed all that much -- there were about ten people in the endzone and even the first tier of the sidelines had room to spare. At least the sun was peeking through and there was no hint of rain. Syracuse was in white and Princeton busted out their black jerseys.

Cercy and Matt Bailer faced off to start the action and Cercy pushed it forward to himself for a break right down the gut, but Torti stripped him with a one-handed wrap after Cercy turned a little looking to pull out..

As soon as Princeton cleared it, Boyle had a great opportunity when he snuck around lefty after Cuse's defense fell asleep for a second, but Mulligan beat Boyle to the five hole (with reaction time that would make a fly proud) and hucked an outlet to the wing. Trevor Tierney returned the favor on the other end with an insane offside hip save and started a clear to send it right back down the field. Princeton decided to attack from the top of the box, mostly with Brad Dumont testing the waters against Cuse's shorties, and he eventually found some daylight down the seam in the middle. He turned it into 5th gear as he was moving left to right across the top nose dived into the hole. Dumont switched to his left as the check from behind landed on his right shoulder and stuck it top shelf on the run for a 1-0 lead.

Owen Daly then got in the action shortly after when he wheeled around from behind without the ball and Matt Striebel, who was jogging near the left wing, fed him in stride. Daly pinged it to the upper right just as he saw the slightest angle. 2-0 Princeton. Cuse could have evened it up over the next minute or two, but Trevor Tierney was really on his game and racked up some sick saves, most notably robbing Syracuse's Januszkiewicz on a dead center blast from 7 yards out.

Syracuse still had possession until Winship Ross, a short stick middie, wrapped Spencer Wright in the middle of the box and then tied him up so one of Princeton's longsticks could grab the loose ball and book upfield. Syracuse forced a turnover when Princeton settled and Glatzel brought it over himself with a little bit of a slow break going, but Powell forced a pass across the crease from the wing and Princeton again got control.

When they moved it around the horn, and then behind after the clear, Matt Striebel rounded the corner and posted up Jay Abendroth to Mulligan's right. Striebel rocker stepped a couple of times, but Abendroth wasn't taking the bait, keeping his stick to the inside and bodying up with authority. Striebel finally rolled to the outside and in one motion ripped an overhand lefty to the bottom offside corner. The shot came so quickly out of the roll (and the release was screened by Striebel's body) that Mulligan couldn't even react. 3-0 Princeton.

Cercy drew the face (he was again outstanding on the day) and his wing moved it to the point, who then pushed it to Banks. Banks blew the break and Damien Davis goosed the loose ball up near the scorer's table for a break of Princeton's own. Hartofilis got it on the transition just past midfield and streaked down to the right pipe, dropped his stick lefty and rounded in from the wing to burn it by high on Mulligan, who had dropped to his knees guessing. But Princeton got hit with an offsides on the break and had the goal called back.

Meanwhile, Cuse was shutting everyone off on the rides and forcing a longstick to carry it over, and Princeton was having a tough time with it. But any benefit Cuse had with their transition game was nullified with some bad decisions. They were continually going to go the goal and not pulling out if it didn't look good, so when they tried to power in from the wings they usually got forced to the crease (or at least into shots with absolutely no angle).

Both teams then withstood challenges to their shortsticks on iso's from behind to close the quarter -- Damien Davis collapsed on a drive along goal line extended, grabbed the loose ball off of the turnover, and took a 50 yard shot as the clock wound down. Princeton 3-0, and it was the first 1st quarter shutout for Syracuse all season.

Cercy won again and Powell started at the top of the box. Powell managed to get a step moving to his right and had some open space in the middle of the field with which to work, but he forced it down low to Banks on the crease, who already had a stick across his body.

When Princeton cleared, Brad Dumont beat Dan Stessen around the lefty corner from behind and everyone on Syracuse was face-guarding, so when Dumont got a step he walked into a wide open middle with only Mulligan staring him down. He stuck it high to the stick side and Stessen looked around with his arms up.

Syracuse would finally get on the board when Princeton's Brian Lieberman got hit with a tripping call, and on the EMO, Brian Solliday just took it on the lefty shooter's spot and ripped one low for a 4-1 score. Nothing special about the shot or play, it just happened to go in. Another face for Cuse (Cercy has not lost yet), but the Orangmen again could only hold on to it for a little before giving it back to Tierney. Princeton settled and went into some extended iso'ing for Torti behind while keeping everyone else standing up top. Torti couldn't get a step, so Dan Clark tried his hand at the same thing, but both times, and for both players, they forced it across the crease lefty and it sailed to the sidelines.

Some hypno-rotation followed from Princeton until Striebel got it on the wing to Mulligan's left and bulled underneath Nick Schmitz for a dink and dunk (and 5-1 lead) with his left hand. The officials took a minute or so to discuss whether he had been in the crease (Striebel toed the line) and possibly whether he dove or was pushed. Either way, nothing happened and the goal stood. Cercy raked it to his wing man and Syracuse tried several times to juke guys one on one, but they just weren't able to get a step on Princeton's disciplined position defense. They didn't need to for the second goal of the day. Banks came around the right pipe and posted up on Mollett. As Banks was giving hints of rolling he drew some attention from Pat Hogan's man, who was hanging out on the righty shooter's point. Banks dumped it up to Hogan when he got some room and Hogan ripped one to the upper right on Tierney from 12 yards out.

Cercy won another, but Banks couldn't handle a pass at X. Mollett got pushed the ball up near the midfield on the clear and brought it over himself again. And again he got caught as the odd man out on Syracuse's shutoff ride (Mollett seemed a little too confident in his stickhandling against a longstick).

More iso'ing from behind with Dumont and MacColl against Cuse's shorties while everyone stood still up top (it was clearly a big part of Princeton's game plan). When MacColl eventually came around the corner righty with a half a step, he shot high over the pipe and Cuse beat it out to the endline -- no one from Princeton had bothered to rotate behind on the opposite side.

When Syracuse controlled on the other end, Mike Powell took a run from X to the left wing with Davis all over him. When it looked like he was going to post up, Mollett came flying on a back door slide from Powell's blind spot and shoved him to the ground from behind. A flag went up and Powell held on to the ball, got up, turned, and bolted to X with the stick in his right hand. As he passed the goal behind he threaded one to Coffman standing in the middle of the hole just 8 yards out dead center. Coffman buried it to close the lead to two.

Time was running down on the half, and both teams used the last moments to try some iso's from up top. Princeton gave it a shot with Dumont and Syracuse with Solliday, but both efforts, although forcing a save, came up dry. The half ended with Princeton up 5-3 and Syracuse registering their lowest halftime output for the season.

Princeton started the second half with an extended run in their own end that ate up the first 2:30. Mulligan robbed both Harrington and Boyle on back to back rips and Syracuse cleared. Then Mike Powell must have figured out what route he wanted to take against Damien Davis because he pulled this move almost exclusively for the remainder of the game. He would set up in the top right corner of the box and just try to simply out-burn him on a straight line to the right pipe, with hopes of being able to duck underneath him. It worked the first time -- Davis held Powell under the neck and gave a :30 man-up to Syracuse, but Mollett immediately ended it when he grabbed the loose ball from a forced feed on the EMO.

After the penalty ended, Striebel worked it from behind and came around the lefty pipe, drawing a double team. As soon as the slide came, Torti cut back door to the middle and Striebel found him -- Torti caught it in traffic and pushed it low with his toes on the crease for a 6-2 lead. Syracuse came right back when Tom Hardy stood at goal line extended off to Tierney's left and threw a laser to Pat Hogan cutting down the middle left to right. Hogan finished behind the back on the run, but oddly enough it was now Princeton running and gunning -- Hartofilis pulled a nice lefty face dodge from the left wing and then shot behind the back to a stonewalling Mulligan. Princeton had a series of rips after loose ball scrums (which Princeton always seemed to come up with) where they jumped on the unsettled situation with crisp ball movement and great looks, but Mulligan was huge. If it weren't for Mulligan's obscene quickness and anticipation, this game could be a lot worse than it was.

Princeton went up 7-4 when Striebel got goosed a ground ball from Boyle in the back corner behind the net and made a line for some space in front of the goal. When the slide came, he dumped it lefty to Boyle running in stride with him (but 5 yards lower), and Boyle immediately snapped his wrists for a feed to Prager in the middle of the crease when Boyle, now on left pipe, drew the slide from the hole and Cuse left it unfilled. Prager finished low.

Princeton took even more time with it, but they were still making runs at the goal and not floating behind. Mulligan grabbed a weak (considering the way he was playing) bouncer from the top of the box that Dan Clark took running to his left, but when Cuse took it down and Springer fed Bill Perritt in the middle for a point blank shot, Tierney stoned him. Princeton cleared and then notched another -- BJ Prager converted a feed from Dan Clark for an 8-4 lead when Clark drove the right pipe from the top of the box and fed the doorstep.

Cercy pulled some more magic and moved it to Banks. Mollett was doing a number on Banks to Tierney's back right, so Banks looped it up to Coffman opposite. Coffman grabbed it and burned John Walsh to the outside for a roll underneath that drew a flag on Walsh. When Coffman made his way right to the front of the goal, Tierney absolutely robbed him with a blazing offside hip save. Syracuse force fed the crease again just 5 seconds into the man-up and Princeton gained possession to close the quarter.

The fourth started with Princeton still man-down, but with possession. Striebel got the honors of being double teamed at midfield when the whistle blew and Syracuse controlled again. Spencer Wright started with the ball at the top center of the box and split to his left to take off on a drive. He let loose a lefty sidearm rip while running towards the left pipe and it beat Tierney offside hip (it was perfect placement).

Syracuse settled and Powell forced the middle on another feed from the wing, but Springer stopped Princeton's clear with some nice cherry picking at the restraining line. Princeton always had their sticks right on the cutters, so a lot of Cuse feeds looked forced, but it might have been a hard habit to break -- they would have gotten away with them against lesser defenses (they did the same things to Notre Dame and it worked continually). Syracuse still held on to the ball and when Mike Powell split Joe Rosenbaum on the wing to Tierney's left, he got a step to the inside and boxed Rosenbaum out to stick it right on the paint for an 8-6 Princeton lead. Cercy again won the face, and after they moved it around the horn, Damien Davis got hit with another hold on Powell after Powell made the same sprint move from the deep left wing. On the resulting EMO, Brian Solliday pulled off a carbon copy of his first goal -- he just took it on the lefty shooter's and ripped it. It was so routine that Princeton didn't even extend to get a stick on him. 8-7 Princeton and you could hear the fans getting a lot louder. Cercy again won the face (typing that is getting boring) and Springer narrowly missed the far pipe on Tierney when he took a blast right after he touched it. The crowd was now going nuts. Princeton worked it around the top for a minute or so, but when one of their shots sailed wide, Prager was slow to back up and Mulligan and Glatzel got possession. Syracuse brought it down and let Powell go to work on the left wing, where he was having some success operating for the last ten minutes. He drew a slide after getting a step on Davis and fed Spencer Wright in the middle to tie it at 8 with 7:40 left.

Cercy again and Cuse settled into a 1-4-1 with Powell trying to take Davis, with some room, from the wing to Tierney's right. But Davis picked Powell behind the neck when he tried to drive across the middle, and Davis grabbed the loose and legged it out past two attackmen on the right sideline. As Davis continued down the field, Jason Januszkiewicz, in a really boneheaded move, held Davis in an attempt to go over the head. It was Syracuse's 1st penalty for the game, and it would kill them. On the EMO, Princeton worked it around in a 1-3-2 without really skipping any passes or rotating players through, but just as Cuse released a player from the midfield line, Boyle, who was at the top center of the box, stopped the movement around the horn and fed it into Prager standing just in front of Mulligan on the crease. Prager turned around and buried it for the one goal lead.

Princeton went into quasi-stallball with 4:00 minutes to go by iso'ing on the shorti's behind with long, drawn out runs, until Stessen picked MacColl when he got within striking distance. Princeton retained possession and were now clearly stalling -- Striebel was pulling up when he got a step around the corner from behind and no one on Princeton tried to take a seam when one opened up. The middies iso'ing behind were also taking all the sweet time in the world to start their dodges. It was working until Hartofilis got the ball at the top right of the box and took a ridiculous bouncer from 15 yards out that had no chance on Mulligan. No one was expecting him to shoot, so no one backed up. Syracuse ball.

Another hold on Davis against Powell (his 3rd), after Powell again tried a drag race from the top right of the box -- Orangemen :30 EMO with 2:03 to go. Cuse went with a 3-3 that did nothing but pass the ball around the horn. When the penalty was released, Powell worked Mollett from behind and got Mollet to fall to his knees on a quick split to his left. Powell rounded the corner with his stick low and in his left hand (and no one in front of him), but Tierney blanked what looked like a sure thing. Davis was then on Powell at the top right of the box after a timeout and Powell drove straight for the right pipe, but Davis stayed step for step so Powell fed back across his body to Coffman in the middle. Coffman's right handed rip hit the pipe.

With :15 left Powell again tried Davis from the top right of the box, but this time got a step on the outside and ducked inside, and in front, of Davis, and with his stick in front of his chest to protect against any back checking, Powell shoved a bouncer by Tierney without ever exposing his stick and tied the game up.

Princeton's Bailer won the face cleanly this time and drove down for a high rip from 10 yards out, but Mulligan easily controlled the stick side blast. Mulligan gilmanned it to end the fourth.

Bailer won the overtime face for Princeton and Torti worked behind until he moved it to Dumont up top. Princeton was sticking with their strategy of only dodging on Cuse's shortsticks, but when Dumont went into a holding pattern at the top, Tierney called for a timeout. Will MacColl started with the ball, eventually passing off to Striebel behind. Striebel dove around the right pipe, but Mulligan stuffed him high. Solomon Bliss got mobbed on the sideline during the clear and Striebel managed to get him from behind, but a tough feed into Prager on the crease allowed Cuse to clear, which after some trouble, Jay Abendroth did. Timeout Syracuse.

Powell tried from the same spot again, but Davis raped him with a clean two-handed wrap across Powell's chest. While clearing, Davis got the other end of that when he was stripped at the top of the box, but when it came back down and behind, Powell went down with what looked like a cramp in his calf, and the ball rolled out the near sideline.

Mollett started with the ball after the delay for Powell's injury (he would return to the game immediately) and cleared successfully. They moved it down the right wing and bumped it around to Boyle camping at the back of the net. Boyle gathered himself with the stick in his right hand and pumped it BJ Prager cutting hard down towards the left pipe. Prager caught, cradled, and stuck it from 3 yards out to Mulligan's right. Coach Tierney was crouched over with tears and Princeton was heading home with their 4th national title won in overtime.