MAN UP: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Mike Grossman flies up to fire a shot in recent action. Last Friday, senior star Grossman tallied two goals and two assists in a losing cause as Princeton fell 10-8 to second-ranked Johns Hopkins. Princeton, now 2-1 and ranked 14th in this week’s Inside Lacrosse media poll, faces No. 8 North Carolina (4-1) on March 10 in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Mike Grossman and the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team couldn’t find a rhythm offensively in the early stages of their clash against visiting Johns Hopkins last Friday evening.

The 11th-ranked Tigers were outshot 19-7 by No. 2 Hopkins in the first half and found themselves trailing 5-2 at the half.

“I thought we could have come out and played better in the first half,” said senior attacker Grossman, reflecting on a night which saw the Tigers generate zero shots in the second quarter.

“I thought we had jitters; we kept tossing the ball away. I honestly feel like I didn’t break a sweat in the first half, which is a little frustrating.”

The Tigers, though, did make the Blue Jays sweat in the second half, cutting the Hopkins lead to 7-5 at one point and then making a late surge in ultimately falling 10-8 before a crowd of 2,407 at Sherrerd Field at Class of 1952 Stadium.

Princeton’s formula for getting back into the game was basic, according to Grossman.

“I thought we just had to toughen up and play harder on ground balls and get the ball,” said Grossman, in assessing a second half which saw Princeton outshoot the Blue Jays 29-10 and hold a 16-13 edge in ground balls.

“We just didn’t have the ball enough in the first half and you really can’t win without the ball.”

Once Princeton got the ball, Grossman did some good things with it. “I felt nice when we had the ball,” said Grossman, a 6‘1, 195-pound native of Potomac, Md. who tallied two goals and two assists on the evening.

“I have been playing both attack and coming from the box. Today I was getting a pole more often than not so that was a change. It is just six offensive guys; it works well. They definitely switched up the matchups which was the first time we had seen that but the offense works when we are all moving well together.”

In Grossman’s view, the Tigers, now 2-1, are moving in the right direction. “We know we can play with them, but we beat ourselves which is frustrating,” said Grossman, who has seven points this season on three goals and four assists.

“They are a very good team. It is just one game and it is the third game of the season. There is a long way to go. We showed plenty of promise today.”

Princeton head coach Chris Bates concurred, noting that the Tigers hung in there against the powerful Blue Jays even though they weren’t at their sharpest.

“I thought we did a decent job in the second scratching and clawing; I think Hopkins did a decent job making plays when they needed to,” said Bates.

“We don’t feel like we played well anywhere but we were within striking distance. It is a missed opportunity. There are some positives we can take out of this. It was a B- effort. If we play an A effort, we can go toe-to-toe with anybody.”

Bates likes the effort he is getting from Grossman in his final campaign.

“Mike is a senior; I feel like he is embracing a leadership role and wants to make a play,” said Bates.

“What Michael does isn’t pretty but he has got a great IQ. He has got his head up; he sees the slide and distributes the ball well. We are comfortable at the end of the game putting the ball on his stick. He’s ready to take that next step in terms of being a fourth quarter guy that makes big plays.”

In the game Friday, the Blue Jays came up big in the early stages of the fourth quarter, going on a 4-1 run to build a 10-5 lead.

“I give Hopkins credit; they inverted and they possessed the ball,” said Bates who got two goals from Jeff Froccaro in the loss to Hopkins with Tom Schreiber chipping in a goal and two assists.

“That’s Hopkins and it forces you out of rhythm but then we broke down at times. They capitalized when were a step slow. I thought they shot the ball relatively well.”

With Princeton facing No. 8 North Carolina (4-1) on March 10 in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Bates is hoping his team will capitalize on another shot at a traditional lax power.

“That is a big stage; I think that will be good for our guys,” said Bates. “They are talented, they are deep and well coached. We’ll start thinking about them in a day or two. I think the guys will be ready. It is team that we have had great games with the last two years. It’s top-ranked team in that venue so I think we’ll be excited to make amends for this one.”

In Grossman’s view, the Tigers’ corp of seniors are ready to lead the way as Princeton looks to get back on the winning track.

“It is a big class, there are 13 of us,” said Grossman. “When we came in here we made it our goal to go to the Final 4 and do whatever it takes to get there and we obviously haven’t done that so that’s the ultimate goal. We feel with so many kids contributing that we know what it takes. We just can’t have the jitters that we had today.”