Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/3/17
From Press Release
Sam Gravitte had one question as he was leaving Class of 1952 Stadium Friday afternoon, after he and his Princeton men’s lacrosse teammates had produced a win over Johns Hopkins unmatched in program history.
“How many ground balls did Currier have?” Gravitte asked.
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Princeton freshman Michael Sowers (right) is defended by his former Upper Dublin teammate, Jack Rapine, in Friday’s 18-7 victory (Photos by Rene Schleicher)
When told the answer was 10, he stopped and said “it seemed like he had 70.”
On a day when every Princeton player was on, it was Zach Currier who dominated a game like few if any in college lacrosse can, leading Princeton to an 18-7 win over No. 3 Hopkins. The 11-goal margin was the largest by Princeton in any game ever against the Blue Jays that now has seen 87 meetings, bettering the 20-11 win in 1994.
Princeton is now 3-1 with a game Tuesday against Quinnipiac. Hopkins, who had defeated defending NCAA champ North Carolina 13-5 in its previous game, lost for the first time in five games.
How good was Currier? In a game when he didn’t score a goal and took only two shots, he still was all over the place, with three assists, 10 ground balls and a 15-for-19 day facing off – after losing his first two. Whenever possession needed to be had, it was Currier who would get it for the Tigers. Everything that happened started with him.
Of course, there were others who were huge for Princeton. Lots of others. It was a complete team effort, in every aspect.
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Johns Hopkins freshman Forry Smith (Haverford School) scored once Friday
Princeton lost 17-7 last year at Johns Hopkins and was never really in the game. This time, Princeton jumped out quickly and never looked back.
Austin Sims had career highs with six goals and seven points, and he set the tone in the first quarter with two goals in the first four minutes. Princeton built a 3-0 lead when Michael Sowers (Upper Dublin) scored, but Hopkins added two goals in 53 seconds to make it 3-2 midway through the quarter.
By the time the Blue Jays would score again, though, Princeton put 10 unanswered on the board. It was a perfect second quarter, when Princeton outscored Johns Hopkins 7-0, and by the time Charlie Durbin took a pass at midfield from goalie Tyler Blaisdell and then ran down and scored with 10 seconds left, it was 10-2 Princeton.
Oh, and speaking of Blaisdell, he didn’t quite match last year’s 20-save total in the game last year against the Blue Jays, but he was magnificent all game, finishing with 16 saves and just the seven goals against.
The game featured many 1-on-1 matchups between Sowers and former Upper Dublin teammate Jack Rapine, who had five groundballs and a caused turnover.
NOTES
* Blaisdell, who had a .448 save percentage last year, now is at .667 for this season, with 50 saves and 25 goals against. He has a 7.14 goals-against, more than four goals better than a year ago.
* Sowers had two goals and two assists. The freshman now has had at least four points in every game, and he leads the Tigers with 20 points, on nine goals and 11 assists. Gavin McBride had three goals and an assist, with two of his goals off assists from Sowers.
* Adam Hardej, Mike Morean and Charlie Durbin had two goals each. Riley Thompson had a goal and two assists.
* Gavin McBride (Haverford School) had three goals and and assist.
* Robert Kuhn (Moorestown/Hun School) and Forry Smith (Haverford School) each scored once and Joe Carlini (Malvern Prep) had two assists for Hopkins.
* Hopkins came into the game second in Division I in extra-man percentage at .667. Princeton held Hopkins without an extra man goal in four chances.