LIFE OF RILEY: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Riley Thompson heads to goal last Saturday as the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team opened its season by hosting NJIT. Sophomore attackman Thompson tallied three goals and two assists to help the Tigers roll to a 21-4 win over the Highlanders. Princeton plays at No. 13 Hofstra (1-0) on February 27. (Photo by Robert Goldstein, Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

Riley Thompson stands only 5’6 and weighs 140 pounds but he made a big impact for the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team as it opened the season against NJIT last Saturday.

The sophomore attackman scored a hat trick in the first half as Princeton jumped out to a 13-1 lead by intermission.

“It is exactly how we wanted to come out,” said Thompson. “We want to pick the pace up a bit more than we did last year. It was awesome that everyone was getting touches.”

Thompson finished the day with three goals and two assists as Princeton cruised to a 21-4 triumph, setting a career-high in goals and nearly matching his point total from last year when he had two goals and four assists in 15 appearances.

“We saw last year a couple of the guys come in sophomore year and have  huge bumps in numbers,” noted Thompson.

“I am getting more comfortable, getting a little time last year helped, getting to know the guys more and getting more chemistry.

In reflecting on his big day Saturday, Thompson saw himself as a beneficiary of a total team effort.

“I think my teammates were feeling it more, they made it easy on me,” said Thompson. “I didn’t have to do much work on those.”

Moving to attack this season after playing in the midfield as a freshman hasn’t been much work for Thompson.

“I grew up playing attack so it is an easy transition, I am a little more comfortable back there,” said Thompson.

Playing on the top attack line with gifted playmaker senior Ryan Ambler has made things even easier for Thompson.

“He really takes command out there so it is easy to follow that lead,” added Thompson of Ambler, who tallied two goals and three assists in the win over NJIT.

Thompson, a native of Orangeville, Ontario and an alum of Culver Military Academy in Indiana has developed a special connection with fellow Canadian natives and Culver grads, junior midfielder Zach Currier and freshman attackman Dawson McKenzie.

“I think we bring something different and I think we feed off the other guys,” said Thompson of the trio, who were posing together after the game for photos with their former high school coach’s brother.

“We bring some new stuff to them and we pick up stuff from the guys who have been down here all of their lives.”

Princeton head coach Chris Bates liked the way his players fed off of each other in the opener.

“I thought we played within ourselves which was really the goal,” said Bates, who got goals from 12 different players against NJIT.

“We wanted to keep our game plan simple and not try to do too much. The guys shared the ball and we executed very well overall. Sometimes games like this can get sloppy but we played within ourselves. Everyone stayed comfortable and confident.”

The Tigers got an early jolt of confidence from junior star Currier, who had three goals and two assists in the first quarter to set the tone.

“Zach was Zach to start, we don’t want him to try to do too much,” said Bates of Currier who ended up with a career single-game high of seven points with four goals and three assists.

“We want him in the confines of a team offense. Sometimes he is such a playmaker that everybody just stands around and watches. He has got some obvious talent.”

Bates enjoyed watching Thompson come up big in the opener. “Riley is not going to break you down on the dodge but he has great vision and he makes other guys around him better,” said Bates.

“When he gets his opportunities close to the cage, he is a good, solid finisher. He is a starter so he has to assume a greater responsibility and we are going to need him to continue to develop so it was a good start for him.”

It was a good start for Princeton’s freshmen as newcomers McKenzie, Emmett Cordrey, and Charlie Durbin each had two goals with Carter Flaig adding one.

“We have been very pleased with that class overall and this is a game where those guys kind of get their feet under them,” said Bates, who also liked freshman Mike Morean’s work at shortstick middie.

“Somebody asked Emmett what was it like and he was like I was nervous. It is a first college game so for those guys to get that experience under their belt. We are going to need contributions. We are going to need this guys to grow up because they are playing a big role and they are going to continue to. We are going to live and die a little bit with their growth.”

On defense,  the Tigers showed growth. “We covered the ball well with Sam Gravitte, Alistair Berven, and Bear Goldstein,” said Bates.

“We didn’t have to slide to those guys so it was a situation where we could play good solid team defense and not have to rotate a lot.”

Bates acknowledged that Princeton will need to be more solid on face-offs.

“I thought we got beat at the X but we were good on the ground around it so that is going to be an issue for us,” said Bates, whose team went 16-for-29 on face-offs.

Facing No. 13 Hofstra next Saturday, who is coming off a 10-5 upset of North Carolina in its opener, will be a very good test for the Tigers.

“It puts a smile on my face because it will focus our guys,” said Bates, reflecting on Hofstra’s big win over the Tar Heels.

“Hofstra is just a well-coached, tough team. At the end of the day, the fact that they beat Carolina is going to open all of our eyes up and sharpen our preparation, which is perfect.”

Thompson, for his part, believes the Tigers can build on their strong start as they take on Hofstra.

“It is nice to get some big numbers up there and getting guys used to making a lot of shots and getting a lot of stops,” said Thompson.

“That was what we want to have, we want every one to be doing well when we are playing and that will make it that much better for us.”