ERIK THE GREAT: Princeton University men’s lacrosse goalie Erik Peters makes a save last Friday night against Rutgers. Senior star and co-captain Peters made a career-high 21 saves to help Princeton defeat the Scarlet Knights 16-11. He was later named the Ivy League Player of the Week for his performance. The Tigers, now 4-1 and up to No. 3 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll, host Penn on March 19 in the Ivy opener for both teams. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Minutes after the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team defeated Rutgers 16-11 last Friday evening to earn the Meistrell Cup, the Tigers made a beeline to claim the trophy and Erik Peters hoisted it over his head to the cheers of his teammates.

It was fitting that senior goalie Peters grabbed the hardware as he produced a brilliant effort with a career-high 21 saves to help the Tigers overcome a Rutgers team that came into the game undefeated and ranked No. 3 nationally in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

When the Tigers went scoreless in the third quarter, Peters raised the level of his game, making five saves, some point blank to hold off the Scarlet Knights. The Princeton offense got back in rhythm in the fourth, tallying five goals as the Tigers pulled away to a 16-11 win improved to 4-1.

“I just try to focus on the next shot,” said Peters, reflecting on his performance which got him named as the Ivy League Player of the Week for the second straight week.

“Goalie is a position of percentages and you just have to play the percentages. One goes in so it is, ‘all right, move on to the next one.’”

Peters credited his teammates with helping him control the crease.

“I just fall back and trust in our defense,” said Peters. “We have a bunch of dogs. Every single guy out there is someone that I trust and makes plays. They make it easy for me.”

Things weren’t easy for the Princeton defense in the early going last Friday as the local rivals were knotted at 6-6 19 minutes into the game.

“It is two great offenses and two teams that are both into running and gunning,” said Peters.

“We knew they were going to hit us and we had to hit them back harder and I think that is what happened.”

The win over Rutgers marked the second straight triumph for Princeton over a team ranked No. 3 as the Tigers had edged previously undefeated Georgetown 10-8 on March 5.

“I think it wasn’t anything that we didn’t expect,” said Peters. “We came out on the road and we expected to get the win and we did. We came into this game expecting to win and we did.”

Peters, a 5’10, 170-pound native of Highlands Ranch, Colo., has come out with a brilliant start to his senior campaign, posting a 10.35 goals against average and a .629 save percentage so far this season.

“I feel good about it but it is just falling in and trusting the systems,” said Peters, who is ranked third in Division I in save percentage and fifth in saves per game (15.6).

“I am playing behind the best defense in the country. I trust every single one of them and they make it easy.”

Taking a gap year as the 2021 season was canceled, Peters had to be creative in his training.

“It was lot of backyard with my dad; he is not a lacrosse player but I had him shooting tennis balls on me,” said Peters. “He loved it and he was a huge part of my game.”

In the view of Peters, a huge factor in Princeton’s hot start was some team bonding over the offseason.

“Most of the senior class moved into Princeton over the summer to be together and so we could train,” said Peters. “That was amazing; I think that was really instrumental to getting off on the right foot.”

Princeton head coach Matt Madalon credits Peters with being instrumental in the success of the Tigers.

“Erik was unbelievable tonight; he is the best goalie in the country, we have been saying it for years,” said Madalon. “He is unflappable, he is an impressive kid. He does it every day in practice so on game day we are like OK, we expect it. We are really proud of him, he keeps showing up and playing well. He is really just getting the ball up and out for us. We are a team that wants to run. He has done a much better job this year of making clean saves. He let up a couple of rebounds early in his career and now he is gathering it. He is just a really experienced guy. He has so much poise, it really helps our defensive unit.”

The defensive unit showed poise against the Scarlet Knights as it stepped up while missing two starters in senior All-American George Baughan and sophomore Pace Billings.

“We are still trying to figure some stuff out,” said Madalon. “We are still playing different guys, moving some pieces around. So for us to get this win, we are out a couple of starting defensemen was awesome. That is the biggest part of this win. We got it done with guys nicked up throughout the week and then guys came in and executed the game plan.”

Freshman attacker Coulter Mackesy executed brilliantly against Rutgers, tallying four goals and two assists after having coming into the game with two goals and two assists on the year.

“He is a young guy who came in and earned his starting attack spot and got his first start against Georgetown,” said Madalon of Mackesy who was later chosen as the Ivy Rookie of the Year.

“He made a couple of young guy mistakes and came out and had a great week of practice. He met with coach [Jim] Mitchell, our offensive coordinator, a handful of times. He got himself ready. They put a shortstick on him late in the game; we know how athletic he is and we thought that was really a fortuitous matchup for us.”

The one-two attack punch of senior Chris Brown and junior Alex Slusher proved to be a tough matchup for the Scarlet Knights as Brown tallied three goals and an assist in the win while Slusher chipped in four goals and two assists.

“They have got really good chemistry,” said Madalon. “They are also bringing a guy like Mackesy along, that is also really impressive about those guys.”

Princeton boasts some very good athletes in midfield in junior Sam English, junior Beau Pederson, junior Jake Stevens, and senior Luke Crimmins. English had a goal and an assist against Rutgers while Stevens contributed a pair of goals.

“Sammy is a do-it-all guy; him, Beau, Jake, and Luke, these guys can play,” said Madalon. “They can play D, they can play man up, man down. Sammy is just awesome, we are going to continue to ride him. He is a really impressive player.”

The Tigers have produced an impressive start, having now risen to No. 3 in the national rankings after the wins over Georgetown and Rutgers.

“I am happy to be 4-1, we have played some pretty darn good teams,” said Madalon. “We finally have guys coming off after they make mistakes saying coach, ‘I know, I know, I have to clean that up.’ We really are learning and solidifying our systems.”

With Princeton hosting No. 6 Penn (3-1) this Saturday in the Ivy opener for both teams, Madalon is looking for the Tigers to produce another solid effort.

“We are going onto Ivy play, we are now going into the main part of our season,” said Madalon. “We try to get prepped through the early part of our season. We did a good job facing some great teams. We have got to put in a good week of practice and hopefully we can put another good performance out there.”

Peters, for his part, is confident that Princeton will perform well against the Quakers.

“We call those ticket games, that is the ticket into the playoffs,” said Peters. “As far as I am concerned, the playoffs start this weekend. Everyone is fired up, especially after last year coming off a gap year. It is do-or-die time. Everyone on the team feels that way, especially the seniors.”