ARMOUR PLATED: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Luke Armour fires the ball up the field in a game last season. Junior attacker Armour was on target last Saturday, tallying three goals and an assist to help Princeton top Dartmouth 21-6. No. 13 Princeton, now 8-3 overall and 4-0 Ivy League, plays at Harvard (6-6 overall, 2-2 Ivy) on April 21. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

As a kid, Luke Armour became a fan of the New Jersey Pride of Major League Lacrosse, developing a greater appreciation for the fine points of the game.

“Growing up, I was watching the greats,” said Montclair native Armour.

“I was watching Jesse Hubbard, Jon Hess, and Chris Massey when they played on the Pride.”

Looking to follow in the footsteps of that trio of Princeton lax legends, Armour came to the nearby Lawrenceville School and emerged as a star.

In 2009, he joined the Tiger men’s lax program and was assigned No. 16, the number worn by Hubbard.

For Armour, just donning a Princeton uniform is a dream come true.

“It is extremely special; it is really an honor to be out there,” said Armour. “To wear No. 16 is a total honor.”

Last Saturday, junior attacker Armour brought honor to the Tigers and that No. 16, tallying three goals and an assist as Princeton dismantled Dartmouth 21-6 before a sun-splashed crowd of 1,618 at Class of 1952 Stadium.

While Armour was proud to make a solid contribution as Princeton improved to 8-3 overall and 4-0 Ivy League, he credited his teammates with putting him in a position to succeed.

“To be honest, I think on the goals that I scored, the credit should really go to the guys who set it up,” said the 5’11, 190-pound Armour, who now has six points this year on three goals and three assists and is up to 21 points in his Tiger career with 13 goals and eight assists.

“We had great movement off ball and great ball movement. My goals were the easy part.”

It was great for Armour to be in action as he been hampered by injury this spring.

“I tore my plantar fascia in my right foot,” said Armour, who was sidelined after Princeton’s loss to North Carolina on March 10 and returned to action on April 10 in the Tigers’ 13-4 win over Rutgers.

“I have just been working to get my shape back and get back in the swing of things. I feel really great out there and I think that if I can give us a little boost and some energy on the offensive side that would be great.”

For Armour, that month on the sideline was spent working hard to get back up to speed.

“I took four weeks off,” recalled Armour, noting that his stint Saturday was his first substantial action of the season.

“I was in a boot and I took all the pressure off my foot. Then I started running around and strengthening and doing rehab. Our training staff has been great; now I feel pretty much back to normal. I started practicing a week and a half ago. It has been great to be back with my friends. It was really hard watching from the sidelines, particularly on days like today when it is pristine. It is great to be be back.”

Princeton head coach Chris Bates liked having Armour back. “We have played relatively well offensively and when you are out, it is tough to break a lineup,” said Bates.

“Luke is always ready. He will always let us know he is ready and we appreciate that he wants to play. It was nice for him to come out and put a couple of goals in the back of the net and just get back into the flow.”

After falling behind 1-0 on a goal by former Princeton High standout and Dartmouth sophomore Mike Olentine, the 13th-ranked Tigers got into the offensive flow, outscoring the Big Green 10-1 over the rest of the half.

“It was a pretty slow first quarter in some regards but we possessed the ball well,” said Bates, whose team clinched a spot in the upcoming Ivy League tournament with the win and can host the tourney if it prevails in its April 28 clash against No. 3 Cornell (9-1 overall, 4-0 Ivy).

“On the offensive end, we stayed balanced and poised and didn’t try to do too much too early. We systematically broke down their defense which is what we  wanted to do.”

Against Dartmouth, the Tigers excelled on both fast breaks and extended possessions.

“It is kind of who we want to be,” said Bates, who got three goals and two assists from sophomore star Tim Schreiber with Jeff Froccaro and Mike MacDonald also registering hat tricks.

“We want to take advantage of early offense because that has been very good to us but also be smart and understand the time and tempo. We need to understand how much defense we have played and what risk we are taking with our pass. That was our main thrust of the week and I thought we did a good job of it.”

As it won its second straight game since a 10-9 loss to Syracuse on April 7, Princeton appears to be in good shape to put together an inspired stretch drive which will see it play at Harvard (6-6 overall, 2-2 Ivy) on April 21 before the showdown a week later against Cornell at Class of 1952 Stadium.

“We are still smarting or hurting, I don’t know what the word is, from Syracuse a little bit but the hope is that it can serve as a motivation going forward,” said Bates.

“That is one that we really wanted back but at the end of the day, we control our destiny. We have Harvard. We need to do what we need to do there and then it’s Cornell. We are where we need to be. Our belief is that our best lacrosse is ahead of us so hopefully today was a good step in that direction.”

Armour, for his part, believes the Tigers are heading in the right direction.

“We are really excited for Harvard,” said Armour. “I think the coaches do a great job preparing us each week for the different matchups. Everyday, the focus is on doing what we do and running our system. We think we are in a really great spot right now and we are very confident. We are really looking forward to not only these next two weeks but also the Ivy tournament.”