Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/22/17
From Press Release
The freshman set another record and reached another milestone. The junior made 18 saves.
This, though, was definitely senior day.
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Princeton senior Gavin McBride had seven goals (Photo by Robert Goldstein)
Playing on Sherrerd Field for the final time in his career, Gavin McBride (Haverford School) scored a career-high seven goals and added an assist to lead Princeton past Harvard 12-9 in front of 1,635 on a rainy day. The win clinches a spot in the Ivy League tournament for Princeton, who will end the regular season this coming Saturday at Cornell and then play Friday, May 5, at Yale in the Ivy semifinals.
Princeton’s Michael Sowers (Upper Dublin) had two goals and three assists, giving him 70 points for the season and breaking the Ivy League record for points, previously set at 67 by Cornell’s Rob Pannell in 2009.
McBride’s previous high game was five, which he had done four different times this year. Against the Crimson, he scored twice in the first half, which ended at 4-2 Tigers.
Princeton then honored three championship teams at intermission – the 1967 team on the 50th anniversary of its Ivy title, the 1992 team on the 25th anniversary of the first of the program’s six NCAA titles and then the 1997 team on the 20th anniversary of its perfect season. When that ceremony ended, McBride took things up a few notches, scoring five times in the second half, building the lead to as many as five at 12-7.
McBride now has 46 goals on the season, tied with Chris Massey – one of the former players honored at halftime – for the fourth-highest single-season total in program history. He also took over the Division I lead in goals for the season from Connor Fields of Albany, who had 42 heading into Saturday night’s game against Yaleone.
NOTES –
* In addition to the freshman record, Sowers also became the fourth player in Princeton history to reach 70 points for a season. He trails only Mike MacDonald (78 in 2015), Jon Hess (74 in 1997) and Jesse Hubbard (72 in 1996).
* Tyler Blaisdell made 18 saves, two off of his career high. The junior goalie made nine saves in each half and was sharp throughout, holding Harvard to two goals in the first half and then never allowing the Crimson to get on a run.
* Zach Currier had a Zach Currier day – one goal, five assists, six ground balls and 5 for 8 facing off.
* Sowers, Currier and McBride combined for 10 goals and nine assists. In addition, Princeton also got two goals and an assist from Austin Sims and two assists from Riley Thompson.
* Arman Medghalchi and Bear Goldstein combined to cause five turnovers.
* Princeton would win a share of the Ivy title with a win over Cornell and a Yale loss to Harvard next weekend. A Yale win or Princeton loss would give the Bulldogs the outright title, but Yale will host the Ivy tournament regardless of what happens next weekend.
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