Men’s lacrosse: Ambler (Abington) among four named co-captains for@TigerLacrosse

Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 10/28/15
From Press Release

The Princeton men’s lacrosse team honored all of its living captains at its annual Friends of Princeton Lacrosse Fall Celebration recently, and there are now four new names to add to the list.

Seniors Ryan Ambler(Abington), Austin deButts and Matt O’Connor and junior Bear Goldstein will be Princeton’s captains for the 2016 season, head coach Chris Bates announced.

“It is a privilege for our coaching staff to introduce these four young men as the 2016 captains of Princeton Lacrosse,” says head coach Chris Bates. “Matt, Ryan, Austin and Bear, each in his own way, have demonstrated a unique commitment and excellence within our program. They represent everything we want Tiger Lacrosse to stand for, so we are lucky to have such high character student-athletes lead our team this year. At our fall banquet, we celebrated the long history of captains in our program, and these four will more than ably carry the torch and continue the tradition of exceptional leadership for Princeton Lacrosse.”

Ryan Ambler, from Rydal, Pa., is a two-time All-Ivy League selection who enters his senior year with 57 career goals and 65 career assists, making him one of 15 players in program history with at least 50 goals and 50 assists. He had 22 goals and 29 assists a year ago, when he had at least four points eight times, and he is Princeton’s leading returnee in assists and points for 2016.

Austin deButts, from Alexandria, Va., is Princeton’s top shortstick defensive midfielder. He was one of the leaders among Division I shortsticks in caused turnovers per game in 2015, and he led the Tigers with 18 to become the first shortstick to lead the team in that category.

Matt O’Connor, from Spring Lake, N.J., has started 16 games in his career as a goalie and is one of only three goalies in the last 25 years at Princeton to start the first game of his freshman year, along with Scott Bacigalupo and Tyler Fiorito. His career-high is 13 saves, against Penn in 2014, and he’s had four other 12-save games.

Bear Goldstein, from Dallas, Texas, was a second-team All-Ivy League selection a year ago. The only current Princeton player to have started every game of his career, Goldstein is Princeton’s top defenseman, as well as an Academic All-Ivy League selection.