Division I Men :      May 25, 2002 [ The Game Story]
Johns Hopkins 9 Princeton 11 Scoring: Scoring: Adam Doneger Peter Lesueur Kyle Barrie Tom Garvey Matt Hanna Kevin Boland Kyle Harrison (3, 1) (1, 3) (3, 0) (0, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) Matt Prager Brendan Tierney Ryan Boyle Brad Dumont Matt Trevenen Owen Daly Josh White Sean Hartofilis (5, 0) (1, 2) (0, 3) (2, 0) (0, 2) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Saves: Saves: Nick Murtha 8  (0.421) Julian Gould 12  (0.571) Current Record :     (12-2) Current Record :     (10-4) Team Page For 2002 Team Page For 2002       The Game Story:

The main concern for Johns Hopkins all season was their lack of experience. They started four freshman, one sophomore, a junior with one previous career start and a senior goalie with zero career starts. Although it was a concern it didn't prevent Hopkins from going 12-1 and entering the tournament as the number one seed. However, it came to light today as they went down 6-1 in the first quarter and eventually lost 11-9 to Princeton in the NCAA Semifinals at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey before 23,123 fans. "You can't simulate that if you win you go to the National Championship and if you lose you go home," said Johns Hopkins Head Men's Lacrosse Coach David Pietramala.

Princeton scored with their first shot of the game as Brad Dumont took the short stick that was covering him right to the cage to give Princeton the early lead. Josh White added another one as he ducked through two checks and finished. Hopkins answered with their first of the game from Adam Doneger righty high and hard. The Tigers exploded for three more before the quarter. The best one was when Brendan Tierney threw the extra pass to BJ Prager who completed the play. Hopkins was dominating the face-offs winning 10 of 12 in the first half. Despite their success in that area they had a difficult time converting the possessions. Princeton meanwhile was using solid ball movement and off-the-ball cuts to get some excellent looks which the finished. One of those came three minutes into the second quarter when Tierney cut behind his defender and caught a pass from Ryan Boyle to score. Hopkins got two more before the end of the half and Princeton got one for a 7-3 score heading into the break.

The Hop came out with a little more firepower in the second half. The defense was more aggressive and the offense was taking more chances. Kyle Barrie caught a nice feed from Conor Ford and stuck one high. Then Peter LeSueur made a nice move on Princeton's Joe Rosenbaum to score. That brought the Blue Jays within two but Princeton answered with two more to bring the lead back to four. Then on cue, Hopkins got another two for a 9-7 score heading into the fourth quarter. Sean Hartofilis went through two guys to get his first goal of the game. Princeton won the face off (only their seventh of the game) and held possessio for two minutes before Prager ripped a righty crank. Hopkins had a great opportunity to score with Kevin Boland from point-blank range but Princeton goaltender Julian Gould (did you know he studied classical guitar in Spain last summer) made an awesome save. Hopkins did convert another opportunity when Barrie deposited a LeSueur feed on extra-man. Hopkins for most of the game (and most of the season) seemed to like to pull it out and set up one-on-one match-ups but today much of their success came off passing. Hopkins won the ensuing face-off but couldn't get another goal until 3:41 was left when Boland dropped the ball then had a scoop and shoot. That goal brought Hopkins within two and made the score 11-9. The Blue Jays had two more great opportunities with around two minutes left but they couldn't get passed Gould. Princeton managed to maintain possession and killed the clock. After the game expired, Petro attempted to call his players together but insted the team ran out to greet senior Nick Murtha who was coming off the field for the last time.

As the players streamed into the tunnel after the game senior Pat Miller stopped and took a look around. Although the senior didn't play today he knew this was it. The Loyola HS grad clearly appreciated his time with the Hopkins lacrosse program. Princeton Head Coach Bill Tierney explained how his team was able to hang on to their lead the entire game, "We do a lot of situational stuff in pratice where we say to the kids 'Ok, you're down a goal with two minutes left or you're up two with four minutes left.' We have to remember that it is still just ball with sticks and you have to handle the situations whether there are 30,000 people or 3,000."