SEEING RED: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Mike MacDonald heads upfield in a game earlier this season. Last Saturday, senior attacker MacDonald tallied three goals and two assists in a losing cause as Princeton fell 15-10 at Cornell. MacDonald now has 43 goals and 28 assists this season, becoming the third Princeton player to reach 70 points in a season, joining Jon Hess (74 in 1997) and Jesse Hubbard (72 in 1996). The Tigers, now 8-5 overall and 4-2 Ivy League, will get a rematch with the Big Red (10-4 overall, 4-2 Ivy) this Friday when the foes meet in the semis of the Ivy tournament at Brown with the winner advancing to the title game on Sunday. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Needing a win at Cornell last Saturday to clinch the Ivy League title outright and earn the right to host the upcoming league tournament, the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team came out firing.

Princeton jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the Big Red after one quarter with Kip Orban scoring two goals, Mike MacDonald chipping in a goal and two assists and Ryan Ambler and Gavin McBride each getting a goal and an assist.

“We came out and played really well,” said Princeton head coach Chris Bates. “It was a perfect storm for us in the first quarter, we hit our shots and Cornell made some turnovers that we capitalized on.”

But in the second quarter, the Tigers were buried by a blizzard of goals as Cornell outscored Princeton 9-0 to take a 9-5 lead at halftime.

“The second quarter was upside down from the first; the things that had been positives turned into negatives; we couldn’t get a face-off and we turned it over twice,” said Bates, whose team was outshot 25-4 in the period and lost 9-of-10 face-offs.

“We didn’t have a settled offensive possession in the whole quarter. We got punched between the eyes, it was a standing eight count. We limped into the locker room. There was a steamroller effect. I was just trying to find a way to stem the tide but that is tough when you are not winning face-offs. We were just holding on.”

At halftime, Bates focused on holding his dispirited team together. “They were stunned, we just tried to settle them and remind them of how we played in the first quarter and how good we felt,” recalled Bates. “We told them to find their fight and find their competitiveness.”

In the second half, the Tiger showed some competitive fire, outscoring the Big Red 4-2 in the third quarter but the rally fell short as Cornell pulled away to a 15-10 win.

“We played well but we just couldn’t get that momentum going,” said Bates, reflecting on the second half. “We ran out of time.”

Bates also acknowledged that Princeton ran into a buzz-saw in Cornell. “It was tough game, Cornell played well, they showed us some things we hadn’t seen,” said Bates, who got four goals from senior star Kip Orban, making him the first Princeton midfielder ever to get 40 goals in a season.

“Our inexperience on defense came to light. They ran an open set with no crease; we got gun-shy a little and were slow to make the slides. They won some one-on-one battles.”

Although Princeton, now 8-5 overall, 4-2 Ivy, lost the battle last Saturday, it could win the war as it will get a rematch with the Big Red (10-4 overall, 4-2 Ivy) this Friday when the foes meet in the semis of the Ivy tournament at Brown with the winner advancing to the title game on Sunday.

“We have been in this position before, two years ago we got thumped by them at Giants Stadium and then beat them in Ithaca,” noted Bates.

“I will be interested to see how the team reacts; this group has something on its mind about what it wants to do. We have to do better on face-offs and deal with their open set better. We have good leadership, the right message will be sent. The guys will be excited. We talk about responding when you get knocked down.”