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Vol. LXIII, No. 14
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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Vol. LXIII, No. 14
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Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction)
GIANT EFFORT: Princeton University men’s lacrosse freshman goalie Tyler Fiorito makes one of his career-high 15 saves last Saturday in Princeton’s 12-8 win over second-ranked and defending national champion Syracuse in the inaugural Big City Classic at Giants Stadium. The win improved Princeton to 8-1 overall and helped it jump from No. 5 to No. 2 in this week’s national polls. |
Tyler Fiorito made no effort to stop the tide of teammates who engulfed him after the Princeton University men’s lacrosse team stunned Syracuse last Saturday.
Freshman goalie Fiorito, though, stopped just about everything he saw the previous two hours, making a career-high 15 saves to spark No. 5 Princeton to a 12-8 win over second-ranked and defending national champion Syracuse in the inaugural Big City Classic at Giants Stadium.
Although Greg Hughes liked what he saw from his Princeton University men’s lightweight crew over winter training, he wasn’t sure what he would get when the Tigers opened the spring season in the last weekend of March.
“It’s a new team and we are starting from scratch,” said Princeton head coach Hughes, who guided the Tigers to a No. 1 ranking in 2008 and a second place finish in the Eastern Sprints and fourth place in the IRA grand final.
“Every team is a little bit different. This team performed well through the winter, they worked hard.”
That hard work paid off in the season-opening Fosburgh Cup regatta on Lake Carnegie against Georgetown as Princeton’s top varsity boat cruised to a win, clocking a time of 6:01.7 on the 2,000-meter course to top the Hoyas by 5.6 seconds.
Losing several key senior players to graduation from last year’s sectional championship squad, the Princeton High boys’ tennis team has a new look this spring.
“We will do a lot of rebuilding,” said PHS head coach Sarah Heyman, who guided the Little Tigers to an 18-2 record in 2008 and the first Central Jersey Group III championship of her tenure.
“We lost five seniors and some of them were three or four-year starters. When you lose that many players with that much experience, it is going to leave a hole.”
But while the Little Tiger lineup may look unfamiliar, Heyman believes similar results are possible.
It was a painful process at times but Princeton High softball head coach Craig Haywood believes his team took a step forward even as it went 3-18 last spring.
“It was a big change, even if the record didn’t show it,” said Haywood, whose team won only one game in 2007.
“Two years ago, we were run-ruled 19 times. (losing due to trailing by at least 10 runs after five innings) I think it was seven last year.”
It was raw and rainy last Wednesday but Mariel Jenkins was determined to come out blazing for the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team as it hosted Hun.
“We have a goal for the season to get out of the gate every single game,” said senior attacker and co-captain Jenkins. “We wanted the big win.”
But while the speedy Jenkins raced all over the field from the opening draw and PDS built a big edge in possession, the Panthers found themselves trailing 4-3 at halftime.