Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/20/22
From Press Releases
There were clouds and then snow, followed by sun and wind, with more flurries and then heavy snow and finally, shortly after the game ended, more sun. The only constant on Sherrerd Field Saturday afternoon was the relentless way the Princeton men’s lacrosse team came after Monmouth in wave after wave.
A new-look, fairly rebuilt Princeton team opened its 2022 season with a terrific first half and then a nearly perfect second half, which when added together resulted in a 22-6 win for the Tigers against the defending MAAC champion and preseason favorite Hawks, an NCAA team a year ago.
It was a 10-5 game at halftime before Princeton outscored Monmouth 12-1 after the break.
Princeton was led by, well, everyone, with established starters, returning players in new roles and newcomers who’d never stepped on the field all making huge contributions in its first game in nearly two years.
Senior defenseman George Baughan (Springfield-Montco) was a standout with three groundballs and three caused trnovers for the Tigers.
Offensively, there was Alex Slusher, who was either one of the Tigers’ most veteran players or someone playing his sixth career game and first on attack, depending on your perspective, with a five-goal day. There was Christian Ronda, a junior who had played in one previous career game and had never taken a shot but who nonetheless matched Slusher with five goals and an assist of his own.
Chris Brown had three goals and four assists for seven points (the latter two tying career highs) while he extended his streak of consecutive games with a goal to 33, the longest in Division I. Tommy Barnds made his first career start on attack and put up two goals and two assists.
For Monmouth, Cade Stratton (Ridley) had a goal, an assist and two caused turnovers, freshman Luke Cole (Lenape) had a goal and two groundballs and defenseman Ryan Morris (Strath Haven) collected three groundballs.
Hobart 14, Lehigh 13
In a game which saw neither team lead by more than one until exactly a minute remaining in the third quarter, the No. 13 Mountain Hawks nearly erased a four-goal deficit in the final five minutes of regulation, but ultimately fell at Hobart.
The Statesmen used a 6-1 run to turn a 9-8 Mountain Hawks’ lead into a 14-10 Hobart advantage. Lehigh scored goals at 4:33, 1:44 and 0:58, and had a glittering chance in the final seconds, but Hobart goaltender Kevin Holtby made his 14th and most important save of the afternoon to secure his team the victory.
Sophomore Scott Cole led the Lehigh offense with career highs in goals (4) and points (5). Senior Tommy Schelling added two goals and two assists, junior Christian Mule’ and sophomore Quinn Armstrong each scored twice, while senior Matt Marker (Allentown Central Catholic) tied a career-high two points via a goal and assist. First year Dakota Eierman scored his first-career goal late in the fourth quarter, while dishing an assist as well.
Yale 17, Villanova 14
The No. 20 Wildcats scored six goals in the final quarter and limited the No. 7 Bulldogs to only one goal but fell. The Wildcats move to 1-1 overall and the Bulldogs start their season 1-0.
Defenseman Bryce DeMuth (Avon Grove) had five groundballs and two caused turnovers for Yale.
Patrick Daly had four goals for the Wildcats and matt Campbell had three goals and an assist while Brett Baskin (La Salle) scored three goals. Luke Keating added two goals and three assists.
UMBC 12, Drexel 8
The Dragons fell in their season opener at UMBC. The Retrievers, also playing in their opener, scored six straight goals over a 13-minute stretch in the second and third quarter to break a 3-3 tie and earned the win
Sean Donnelly (one assist) and Zach Augustine (Avon Grove) each had a pair of goals for Drexel. Jack Mulcahy (Downingtown East) finished with a goal and an assist. The Dragons were outshot, 59-33, and UMBC won 14 of the games 23 face-offs.
Kyle Hoff (Southern Lehigh) had two groundballs for UMBC.
