CONSISTENT THREAT: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Gavin McBride heads to goal in a game this season. Last Saturday, junior McBride had two goals and an assist in a losing cause as Princeton fell 11-10 to undefeated Yale, now the top-ranked team in the nation. McBride currently has at least one point in 22 straight games. The Tigers, now 2-5 overall and 0-2 Ivy League, play at No. 3 Brown (6-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy). (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

On paper, it looked like a mismatch as a struggling Princeton University men’s lacrosse team played at sizzling Yale last Saturday.

Princeton entered the day at 2-4, having lost four of its last five games, with Yale at 6-0 and ranked No. 3 in the country.

Midway through the first quarter, it looked like a rout was on as Yale jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

But the recent history of the series, which had seen the rivals play six straight one-goal games in regular season play, dictated otherwise.

Adding to that lore, the Tigers rallied back, narrowing the gap to 5-4 at half. In the third quarter, the game was tied three times and after falling behind 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter, Princeton drew to within one goal on three different occasions.

In the end, however, Princeton couldn’t get over the hump as it fell 11-10, the same score as last year’s regular season contest won by Princeton and the Ivy League title game won by Yale.

While Princeton head coach Chris Bates was disappointed by the result, he liked the resolve displayed by his players.

“We dug out and showed some grit, showed some emotion, and we executed well,” said Bates, whose team was coming off a 20-10 loss to Penn on March 19 and is now 2-5 overall and 0-2 Ivy.

“I thought offensively we did some nice things, going against a team that gives up six goals a game and we scored 10. I felt like we got ourselves in a little bit of a rhythm and played well, and coming out of the half we were where we wanted to be. It just fell short. We were better everywhere, just not better enough.”

Down the stretch of the contest, the Tigers didn’t execute well enough to pull out the win.

“We had extra man with six minutes to go and had a turnover there,” said Bates.

“We had one more turnover and then didn’t see the ball for the last four minutes of the game so it was a frustrating end because we couldn’t get the ball back. Yale has a seasoned team and executed well enough to win the game and that is where we want to be. We need to learn how to win those games.”

Bates saw a lot of good things from his squad in defeat. “The half field defense was sound,” asserted Bates. “We played much better as a unit offensively, we managed the game better and we shared the ball. We had assisted goals. I think our guys feel good about our improvement but not about coming back with a loss.”

The Tiger offense was paced by sophomore midfielder Austin Sims, who notched a career-high four goals, with junior Zach Currier contributing two goals and junior Gavin McBride chipping in two goals and an assist.

“Austin was solid there, he is becoming a presence there and playing with confidence; you have just seen him grow up before your eyes,” said Bates.

“Zach did some good things, he got a garbage goal and he got a goal in the fourth quarter. He was his typical disruptive self. Gavin is a kid who works so hard, he shoots extra balls before or after practice every day and it pays off. We are expecting him to take next steps leadership wise. He has had a very solid year.”

Noting that Yale is now ranked first nationally, Bates believes that his team’s solid effort against the Bulldogs could pay dividends.

“We will tip our hat; if we are one goal away from beating the No. 1 team in the country, I will take it,” said Bates.

“I think I would be singing a different song if we lost by 10. We are disappointed because it was an opportunity for us to beat a rival and a top-ranked team. At the end of the day, I believe we are building some confidence and taking next steps. We have a lot of lacrosse ahead of us. We are 0-2 in the Ivies and Yale has come back from that three times to be league champions. The focus is on this week but I think in the big picture, our guys feel that we can take those positives and make some next steps that will pay off.”

Playing this Saturday at run-and-gun No. 3 Brown, which is 6-0 overall, 1-0 Ivy and is scoring 17.3 goals a game, the Tigers will need to step up to topple the Bears.

“They play at a different clip, they take chances and they try to generate a ton of shots,” said Bates.

“That is not a horse race we want to get into. We have to find ways to slow them down a little bit and force them into mistakes and have us execute our game plan.”