Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/21/15
From Press Release
The only thing more beautiful than the peacefully falling snow on Sherrerd Field Saturday afternoon was the way the Princeton men’s lacrosse team clicked on offense in the third quarter.
Princeton scored seven goals on just 15 shots in the third quarter to break open a close game and then held off a furious Hofstra run to win 14-12 in a game played in wintry conditions to say the least. Snow began falling during the women’s game that preceded the men’s game and completely covered Sherrerd Field even before the opening face-off.
The field was cleared during timeouts by members of Princeton’s athletic administration, as well as facilities staff.
Mike MacDonald led the Tigers with five goals and four assists and Gavin McBride (Haverford School) had two goals and an assist for the Tigers. McBride has four goals in two games.
THE THIRD QUARTER – Mike MacDonald had one assist in the first half, which ended with the Tigers up 6-5. By the end of the third quarter, the senior seven more points on four goals and three assists, and he would finish with nine points for the day when he added his fifth goal in the fourth. Princeton and Hofstra traded two goals each to start the third, and then Princeton exploded, putting up five unanswered to end the quarter, including three consecutive from MacDonald in a 1:38 span. Princeton won 6 of 9 face-offs in the third – compared to 7 for 20 for rest of the game – and dominated possession. The Tigers ran an incredibly efficient offense, with the seven goals on 15 shots, including 6 of 9 during one stretch.
CAREER DAYS – MacDonald tied his career high with nine points, equaling the total he had against Cornell in Princeton’s win over the Big Red in the 2013 Ivy tournament, on a night when he had seven goals and two assists. Zach Currier’s three goals tied his career high, and his two assists gave him five point, a new career best. Sanschagrin also had a career-high, with 15 saves. For that matter, Kip Orban had his sixth career three-goal game, all of which came in the first half, as he extended Division I’s longest streak of consecutive games with at least one goal to 28.
KEY MOMENT OF THE GAME – Princeton led 13-7 at the end of the third quarter, but Hofstra came storming back. The Pride were particularly effective man-up, with four extra-man goals in the fourth quarter. The key point came when Princeton’s lead was 14-11 and Hofstra went two men up, including a two-minute non-releasable penalty for one of them. Instead of taking advantage, the Pride turned it over, and Currier then took over, first with a great catch along the sideline on the clear to maintain possession and then by almost single-handedly running out the remaining 1:20 of the penalties.
HOFSTRA PHILLY CONNECTION: Dylan Alderman (Bishop Shanahan) had a goal and an assist and Trevor Kupecky (Upper Merion) scored once for the Pride.
PLAY OF THE GAME – Princeton’s 11th goal was the middle of MacDonald’s three straight in the third. Sam Gravitte faced off and Sam Bonafede came off the wing to grab the ball near the top of the box in full stride something that wasn’t easy to do on this day. When he looked up, he saw MacDonald all alone on the crease for a layup.
COMING ATTRACTIONS – The game will be replayed Sunday morning at 8 on ESPNU. Princeton is next at Johns Hopkins Saturday, Feb. 28, at 1.
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