SHOOTING STAR: Princeton University men’s lacrosse player Austin Sims fires a shot in recent action. Last Saturday, senior star midfielder and co-captain Sims scored five goals, including the game-tying and game-winning goal as Princeton rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat Rutgers 15-14 in overtime. The Tigers, now 3-2, open Ivy League play by hosting Penn (3-3) on March 17. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Austin Sims and his teammates on the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team weren’t about to hit the panic button even though they found themselves trailing Rutgers 14-10 with 9:58 remaining in the fourth quarter last Saturday at Class of 1952 Stadium.

“We always say lacrosse is a game of runs; the coaches always say keep an even keel,” said Princeton senior midfielder Sims. “We really just stuck to what we practice and looked to grind things out.”

Sims started a late run for Princeton, tallying with 8:03 left in regulation to narrow the gap to 14-11. After unanswered goals from Connor McCarthy and Duncan McKenzie, the Tigers made it a 14-13 game.

With the clock winding down, Sims struck again, firing in a goal with 49 seconds left to force overtime,

“It was man-up play,” recalled Sims. “We ran the same play earlier and I was able to get a good shot.”

Minutes later, Sims got another good look, firing in a rocket shot from up top to give the Tigers a dramatic 15-14 win.

“We always preach in practice just attacking hard. When you get the backside dodge, you just try to make one hard move and go,” said Sims.

“Once you beat your guy, it is the same shot you have practiced a million times in your back yard. I didn’t try to overthink it, I just tried to do what our coaches have preached throughout the whole year and luckily enough I was able to take it home.”

After keeping their heads during their rally, the Princeton players went wild after the game-winner, running en masse across the field to mob Sims in celebration of the triumph that improved the Tigers to 3-2.

The win meant that Princeton regained possession of Meistrell Cup, named after Harland “Tots” Meistrell, who re-started the lacrosse programs at each school in the 1920s. Last year, the Tigers fell 16-11 to the Scarlet Knights, their first defeat in the series since 2005.

In the view of Sims, the rally showed a lot about the character of the Princeton squad.

“We stuck to our fundamentals, played hard and luckily we were able to come out on top,” said Sims.

“It is just a testament to how strong willed we are. We have a lot of underclassmen starting and we were able to pull it out and not freak out too much in the face of pressure.”

The team’s senior group helped the Tigers keep their heads in the face of a tough challenge from a Rutgers squad that came into game ranked 13th nationally.

“There is definitely a sense of urgency, but that is not to say that there isn’t a sense of urgency for the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors,” said Sims, who ended up with five goals and four ground balls against Rutgers as he broke out of a shooting slump. “It is our last year and we want to make sure that everyone else realizes that it goes by quickly.”

Having dealt with injury issues last spring, co-captain Sims is looking to make the most of his final year of college lacrosse.

“I missed a lot of games; it is not that I have a chip on my shoulder, but I realize that it is really special to be out here because I missed time last year,” said Sims, a 6’1, 185-pound native of Fairfield, Conn, who now has 11 goals and four assists this season.

“It is fun being able to help coach some of the young guys like Chris Brown. I played a year with him in high school; I know his older brother. I am just trying to lead them.”

Princeton head coach Matt Madalon acknowledged that his team was having a tough time as it fell behind early in the fourth quarter.

“It wasn’t ideal; we failed a clear and we put ourselves in that position,” said Madalon. “We have had some hard practices and we have put guys in tough situations. You can’t score four goals at once so it was just chip away at them.”

Madalon was glad to see Sims emerge as the hero for the Tigers. “Everyone is criticizing him, saying he hasn’t shot well,” said Madalon. “It is OK, just wait because it is coming. For him to hit those shots, he did an outstanding job.”

Sophomore superstar Michael Sowers produced another outstanding performance, tying his career high of nine points as he chipped in three goals and a career-best six assists.

“I am getting spoiled with him; he is an offensive coordinator on the field,” said Madalon. “He reads defenses, he reads matchups. He makes everyone else around him better and that is his best trait.”

The Tigers got better work in the face-off circle as senior co-captain Sam Bonafede went 19-of-33 in draws in the contest.

“We put the weight back on our senior’s shoulders,” said Madalon. “He is a senior captain. We asked him to get it done against two very good face-off guys and he worked his tail off. We are happy for his production, he did a really good job.”

The Tigers, though, need to do a better job on defense as they are yielding 12.8 goals a contest.

“We are still figuring ourselves out defensively,” said Madalon. “We are playing a lot of guys and we are young. We go into Ivy play next week so our goal is to solidify our defense. I am not sure we are there yet but we are working.”

With Princeton opening Ivy action by hosting Penn (3-3) on March 17, Madalon is hoping his team can build on the effort against Rutgers.

“To be able to come out and get a win against a very good Rutgers team, I am really happy,” said Madalon.

“It shows a lot about perseverance. We really kept our heads, we really battled. You can’t ask for anything better.”

Sims, for his part, knows that the Tigers will have to keep battling to do well against its league foes.

“It is definitely great to get this win, it is a long-time rival but we can’t rest on our laurels,” said Sims. “We have to go out there and make sure that we are playing our best.”