PHS grad helps Tiger men win NCAA opener
By: J.J. Kim
After the Princeton University lacrosse team had advanced in the NCAA tournament, there stood Whitney Hayes, the former Princeton High star and current Tiger midfielder, and Jon Hess one of greatest ever to wear the Orange and Black chatting in the shadows of the Class of 1952 Stadium.
One can only assume the words had to do with lacrosse and no doubt Hess was letting Hayes know his performance in the Tigers’ 11-8 win over UMBC on Saturday probably brought back a few memories.
Hayes, who finished with a pair of goals and an assist, scored the first Princeton goal of the game and assisted on the second as it grabbed the early lead.
The three points along with his six points in the 2004 tourney give Hayes nine-career NCAA Tournament points, which just happens to be most of any of the current Tigers.
"Jon might have a few more, though," joked Hayes. "But, it was nice to get a few more and to get the win."
Hayes trails Hess, the two-time All-American, by a more then a few points as Hess is third on the all-time Princeton list with 215 points, but the former Princeton High star is just happy to be helping bring the Tigers back to the level it was at with names like Hess, Jesse Hubbard and Chris Massey.
After an unusual season in 2005 when the Tigers didn’t earn a berth in the NCAA’s for the first time since 1989, the Tigers were just glad to back in the chase for another national championship.
"It’s great to be back," said Princeton coach Bill Tierney. "A year ago I was the NCAA representative at the UMass and Syracuse game and I was miserable. It is great to be back and to be in this opportunity and now we’ll see what happens next week."
Next up for the Tigers will be a quarterfinal match with No. 2 seed Maryland on Sunday at Towson. The two schools met in the 2004 quarterfinals and the Tigers came away with a 9-8 overtime win on a goal by Peter Trombino.
With the Tigers being very young this season it’s been up to the veterans like Hayes, Trombino and Scott Sowanick to led the way back to the title chase.
"We had to come out and set the right tone for a lot of the younger guys that have never been to the tournament before," Hayes said. "We have to play well to let them know what this tournament is about."
Hayes took the initiative in the show and tell category as he scored the first goal of the game on a long shot he bounced on the cage with just 1:42 gone in the first quarter.
"Anytime you get a goal on your first shot of the first quarter it usually gets you in a good mood," said Hayes, who now has six goals and seven assists on the season. "It makes you more willing to take that next shot and willing to take more chances."
The goal not only got the Tigers off and running to a quick 4-0 lead, it also snapped a four-game scoreless streak for Hayes, who had not scored a point since he put in a goal and assisted on another at Harvard.
"It bothers you a little bit," Hayes said of the scoring drought. "It’s one of those things that the more you think about it the more it plays on you. But, you have to keep shooting and it’ll come. The good thing is that I haven’t been needed to score. This team is a lot more balanced, you can see that by the way we had seven guys score."
One of those guys was freshman Tommy Davis, who returned after a six-game absence due to a separated shoulder.
Davis made a triumphant return finding the back of the cage three times, including one with just 11 seconds left in the second period that gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead and stopped a two-goal streak by the Retrievers.
"Tommy Davis is a unique young man," Tierney said. "I’d like to take credit since he’s my first recruit from my hometown of Levittown, N.Y., but he’s a kid that works very hard."
The hardest thing the freshman, who has now scored 13 goals in nine games, had to do was sit and watch for six weeks.
"Tommy has ice water in his veins and he just plays the game and he enjoys it for what it is," Tierney said. "He doesn’t get caught up in the madness that’s around him."
The same could have been said for Alex Hewit, who was making his first NCAA Tournament appearance, and turned away 11 UMBC shots, including seven in the first half as the Tigers seized control. He held UMBC scoreless for 21:33 of the first half and the Retrievers were 0-for-17 before they got on the scoreboard.
Hayes got the Tigers started, Hewit held the lead and now they’d like to get back to the days when Hess was leading the Tigers to three straight national championships.