SPECIALTY PROTECTION
WOMEN'S PROTECTIVE
A dominating performance by Hofstra let them take control of the game in the second half, beating Princeton 9-5. What started as a tightly contested game gave way to Hofstra dictating the pace of play, firing almost twice as many shots, and winning more than twice as many groundballs as Princeton. With the Tigers leading 3-2 at 4:47 into the second quarter, the Pride would break the game open, scoring seven of the next eight goals, taking over the game and leading to the Hofstra victory.
Princeton jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but it was quickly tied when Hofstra’s junior attackman Athan Iannucci netted his first of two on the day. The Tigers then jumped back on top when junior attackman Pete Trombino grabbed a lose ball in front of the cage and buried it. The scoring exchange would continue when tick-for-tat passing by Hofstra ended with a goal by redshirt freshman middie Ed Wansor.
The Tigers would enjoy their last lead of the day when the ball was pushed up field, and Trombino found freshman middie Josh Lesko who put away the fast break goal.
From then on Hofstra fell into an offensive groove. Out of the confusion in front of the Princeton cage senior attackman Chris Unterstein found his brother, sophomore middie Mike Unterstein, who tucked the ball around Princeton’s sophomore goalie Alex Hewit. The Pride would add another to take the lead at the half when senior middie John Keysor blew by his man and cranked back a rocket over Hewit’s shoulder.
Hofstra opened the second half controlling the ball for the first six minutes of the third quarter. Chris Unterstein got himself a goal as he charged from the wing towards the near post. As the slide came, Unterstein tucked in the goal. Princeton would interrupt the scoring briefly, as junior attackman Scott Sowanick put his defender on his ass with a dodge and bounced a shot between Hofstra’s senior keeper Matt Southard’s legs.
The Pride took over again, rattling off four straight goals. Keysor netted another almost exactly like his first, a hard drive down and a ripper on the run. Rob Bonaguro gunned in one from the top of the box with a sidearm fire through a screen that beat Hewit off his hip on the Tim Treubig assist. Hofstra would ad a man-up goal when Keysor worked the ball at X and dumped it over the cage where Iannucci more-or-less slapped it in. As if things weren’t already rolling for Hofstra, Hewit let in an own goal as the ball just fell out of his stick and bounced back into the cage. The goal was credited to Hofstra senior defenseman John Orsen.
Princeton would try to start a late rally as freshman middie Mark Kolver hit senior middie Jim O’Brien at the top of the box. O’Brien cranked and tallied what would be the last score of the day for Princeton, as they would lose 9-5.
Hewit snagged 13 saves, but good ball movement and sharp outside shooting got the best of him. Southard made only six saves, resting on the tough play of his defense who batted down passes, blocked shots, thwarted drives, and ate up groundballs.
As the Pride start rolling, head coach John Danowski credits his seniors for the team’s success, but he doesn’t let the team revel in their recent upstaging of some top programs. He sees tough love as the best way to keep his team playing at their bests.
“You’ve gotta keep your foot on their necks,” Danowski said. “You’ve got to be hard on them.”
Princeton will look to right themselves after two tough losses to Virginia and Hofstra when Butler comes to New Jersey on Friday. Hofstra will face Notre Dame on Saturday.
Danowski is just trying to take the season one game at a time still and not get too confident about the strong play he has seen out of his team. He will wait until later in the season to judge where his team fits amongst rest of Division I.
“It’s so early. Jeez, it’s not even spring yet,” Danowski said. “There’s so much lacrosse left to be played.”
| Scoring | |
|---|---|
| Scott Sowanick | (1, 1) |
| Peter Trombino | (1, 1) |
| Mac Bryson | (1, 0) |
| Mark Kovler | (0, 1) |
| Jim O'brien | (1, 0) |
| Josh Lesko | (1, 0) |
| Saves | |
|---|---|
| Alex Hewit | 13 (0.591) |
| Current Record | |
|---|---|
| Princeton | 2-2 |
